Memories of the Dead, Souls of the Living
by Phantom 1
Summary: A Transformers ArmadaYu-Yu Hakusho x-over. The re-emergence of the hologram girl triggers painful feelings in Rad and when Megatron start targeting humans, things really hit the fan. And that's just the beginning. Now moved to the Yu-Yu category.
1. Prologue

Memories of the Dead, Souls of the Living  
A Transformers Armada/Yu-Yu Hakusho story  
  
Disclaimer:  
  
I credit the Transformers franchise as property of Hasbro & Takara, Cartoon Network, Aeon  
Inc., and SD Entertainment has dibs on the Transformers Armada show. Yu-Yu Hakusho is   
owned by FUNimation, who also do Dragonball-Z (basically those two shows are   
FUNimation's only good work).  
  
Prologue  
  
SCREEEECH  
  
CRASH!  
  
"Oh my God! Someone call 911!" A crowd quickly gathered around the car crash. Already,  
sirens could be heard in the distance. At the center of this human circle was a little  
girl with shoulder-length blonde hair. She was dressed in a red shirt, bluejeans and  
sneakers.  
  
"No, it can't be!" A boy burst through the crowd. He had blond hair too and green eyes.  
He knelt by the girl. "Marcy. Marcy, open your eyes. Marcy, this isn't funny. Please  
open your eyes... Marcy, Marcy!" Two bystanders took the boy. As much as the boy tried,  
he couldn't break their grip. When they finally let go of him, he dropped to his knees,  
crying. "Marcy, no, please don't die, please don't die!"  
  
Almost 10 years later.  
  
Rad shot out of the door, harnessing his backpack on his right shoulder. "See ya', Mom!"  
He called out. As Rad ran down the street, a riderless mountain bike rode along side of  
him. "Highwire! Thanks for the ride!" Rad leaped onto the Minicon bike and together,  
the two dashed off towards school.  
  
Rad wasted no time. As soon as he was within ten feet of the school building, he leaped  
off Highwire. "Thanks, Highwire, I'll see you after school!" Highwire did a u-turn and  
zoomed off back to Rad's house.  
  
Rad ran into the building and almost skidded past his classroom. He entered to the   
staring faces of his classmates and the scowling face of his teacher.  
  
"Rad, so glad you could take time off from your busy schedule to join us," she said sarc-  
astically.  
  
"Sorry, Miss Haylend," Rad said.  
  
"Just take your seat." Rad complied and took his seat in the back corner of the room.  
  
Sitting kiddy-corner from him was Alexis. She sighed and put her hand on her head. Even  
after all they've been through, Rad was still the same. It seemed like he treaeted everything  
as if it was a game. On the other hand, she admired his optimistic attitude. Even after  
Starscream stole the Skyboom Shield and turned it and the Star Saber over to Megatron, Rad  
retained his positive outlook. Alexis both respected and resented him for that. Alexis   
turned her attention back to Miss Haylend as she lectured on crime.  
  
Rad wasn't paying attention however, he was doodling the Autobot symbol in his notebook while  
humminhg a nameless tune. Miss Haylend's lectures always bored him. Besides, he's seen  
more in real life than you could ever teach at school. Like about giant alien robots, comet  
destroying weapons and finding miniature robots that do nothing but beep.  
  
"Crash." Rad's ears perked up as Miss Haylend said that word. Something about that word sent  
a chill down his spine. The last time he felt like this was when he first saw Megatron.  
  
Alexis could tell that Rad was only half paying attention so it looked like she would have to  
save his butt again. She raised her hand. "Miss Haylend, can you repeat what you just said?"  
  
"Of course, Alexis. I said that there are over 500 crashes in our country alone every year.  
About a tenth of them are crashes that involve children."   
  
Rad's pencil point broke off. He emotionlessly raised his hand. "Excuse me, Miss Haylend,  
can I use the restroom?"  
  
"Sure, Rad, just hurry up." Rad got up and left the classroom. Alexis wondered what caused  
Rad's attitude to go from cheery to grumpy in one second flat.  
  
Alexis met Rad and Carlos outside the building after school. Carlos was telling Rad about how  
he "accidentally" gave Nikky Carlyle an atomic wedgie. Their Minicons were sitting on the  
ground quietly like always. "Hey, guys," she called out.  
  
"Oh, hey, look who decided to join us," Carlos said mockingly. "Miss Perfect 2003."  
  
"At least I'm trying," Alexis told the shorter boy.  
  
"Knock it off, Carlos," Rad said then turned to Alexis. "Hey Alexis, we're going to Autobot  
Headquarters. Wanna come along?"  
  
"I wanted to get my homework done first," she began.  
  
"You can get it done there. It's not like there are any distractions there or anyting," Carlos  
interrupted.  
  
"But I want to see if they have a plan for stopping the Decepticons and getting the weapons  
back. Let's go."  
  
"All right!" The Minicons transformed into their vehicle modes and they took off. Alexis  
noted that Rad's personality had gone back to his normal can-do self. The kids mounted their  
Minicons and took off towards the mountain headquarters of the Autobots. 


	2. Mystery

Memories of the Dead, Souls of the Living  
A Transformers Armada/Yu-Yu Hakusho story  
  
Rad, Carlos, and Alexis pulled up to the mountain that Autobot Headquarters was  
under. They hopped off their Minicons and quickly ran inside. When the Autobots  
transformed the cave the Minicon ship was found in into their command center, they  
made sure there was easy access for the kids to reach. So Red Alert installed a  
miniature control panel to the elevator. As Rad typed in the access code, Alexis  
stared at him from behind. For some reason, she was still thinking about his rapid-  
changing attitude today in class. After he came back from the restroom, he sat in  
silence for the rest of the class, something Rad rarely does. He didn't even talk  
to Carlos. Maybe it was her imagination.  
  
"Alexis?" Alexis raised her head. Rad was staring at her with a quizzical look.  
Alexis' cheeks reddened. He must've been watching her for a while.  
  
"Um... yeah, Rad?"  
  
"Are you okay? I noticed that you looked a little down lately."  
  
"Talk about the pot calling the kettle black," Carlos interrupted. "You were  
looking a little cross today in class." Alexis forgot that Carlos was also in  
their class because he sat on the other side of the classroom. "What crawled up  
your butt and died?"  
  
"It's no big deal, guys," Rad said. "I'm just... concerned about how the Autobots  
are going to stop Megatron when he has the Star Saber, Skyboom Shield, and the  
Requiem Blaster."  
  
"I don't believe you," Alexis said. "This is about more than just the weapons,  
isn't it. Please, Rad, tell us." Rad didn't want to be put on the spot. He  
felt that his problems were personal.  
  
Fortunately for Rad, the elevator doors opened and the kids came across their  
first Autobot of the day, Scavenger. The large gold-colored robot was making  
adjustments to an security camera.  
  
"Hey, Scavenger," Rad greeted almost gratefully. "Has Optimus figured out a way  
to get the weapons back from Megatron's clutches?"  
  
"Not yet. Optimus, Jet Fire and myself have been discussing it for the past five  
hours." Scavenger actually rubbed the bridge of his nose showing that even Autobots  
get fatigued.  
  
"How's Hot Shot?" Alexis asked. She knew that the young (compared to the others  
anyway) Autobot was still upset over Starscream's betrayal.  
  
"He's still in the targeting range," Scavenger said. "He's been in there ever since."  
  
"I think I'll go see him," Carlos said and immediately took off down the hallway.  
  
Rad turned to Scavenger. "Scavenger, if there's anything we can do to help..."  
  
"Thanks. To tell the truth, we could use any help we can get."  
  
Scavenger, Rad, and Alexis arrived at the cargo bay where Smokescreen, Blurr, and  
Sideswipe were helping the Minicons they rescued from the Decepticons' Moonbase in  
constructing their spaceship that they could use to return to Cybertron.  
  
"Scavenger," Optimus Prime called as he walked into the bay as well. "May I see you  
for a moment?"  
  
"What is it, Optimus, sir?"  
  
"Follow me." Optimus and Scavenger went into the control room where Red Alert was  
looking over a topographic map. There were two dots on the screen, a red one and a  
yellow one.  
  
"For the past three hours, we've been monitoring a strange energy signature."  
  
"Minicon?" Scavenger asked.  
  
"Unknown, it doesn't match anything in our database," Red Alert reported.  
  
"Should we investigate it? It might be dangerous?" Scavenger pointed out.  
  
"I'd like to, but we really can't spare the resources right now, we need to  
concentrate everything we have on constructing the ship to take us back to  
Cybertron."  
  
"Optimus, let us do it," Rad volunteered. "We can investigate it for you."  
  
"I don't know," Optimus said. "We don't know what's out there, it could be  
dangerous."  
  
"Maybe we should," Red Alert said. "It's not far from here. And if it is  
trouble, they can always use Laserbeak to contact us."  
  
"All right. Rad, Alexis, take Carlos and investigate the source of the strange  
energy signature. At the first sign of danger, get out of there and contact us."  
  
"You got it, Optimus. Come on, Alexis!" Rad grabbed Alexis' hands and lead her  
out of the control room.  
  
Rad, Carlos, and Alexis arrived at the location the Autobots gave them. It was  
actually a rather busy city street.  
  
"So what exactly are we looking for?" Carlos asked jumping off Grindor.  
  
"Anything unusual," Rad said. "Something that would give off an energy signature."  
  
"Anything unusual," Carlos mocked. "Right, if I see an elephant tap dancing with  
roller skates, I'll let you... huh?" Something caught Carlos' eye. It was a girl,  
about his age with shoulder-length blonde hair and green eyes. It triggered a  
not-too-distant memory in Carlos. "No way!" Carlos quickly turned to his friends.  
"Guys, I saw her, I saw her!"  
  
"Saw who?" Alexis asked.  
  
"The girl! The hologram girl!"  
  
"What hologram girl?" Alexis asked again.  
  
Rad, however, cought on. "Oh, you mean the hologram girl we met at the underwater  
ruins."  
  
"Yes!" Carlos cried all too excitedly. "She's right over there!" Carlos pointed  
to where he saw her but she wasn't there. "Huh? Where'd she go?" The kids all  
looked around but couldn't see her.  
  
"I don't see her, Carlos," Rad said.  
  
"Will you two pay attention?" Alexis snapped. "We're here on a mission from the  
Autobots!"  
  
"Hey, why are you yelling at me? Carlos was the one who was interested in her,"  
Rad protested.  
  
But Alexis wouldn't hear any more of it. "Let's just get this over with."  
  
Rad moaned. This was just like when they came back from the ruins, Alexis  
automatically thought that both Rad and Carlos had a crush on her.  
  
Little did she know that Rad did have a crush on someone, but it was a real girl,  
not a hologram.  
  
"Hey, I have an idea," Rad said and took out Laserbeak. "Laserbeak, transform and  
search for anything that would emit a strange energy signature." The camera turned  
into a little bird-like robot and took off into the air.  
  
"Good thinking, Rad," Alexis said taking out her palm pilot. "We'll cover much more  
ground that way." She tapped into Laserbeak's visual feed. A buiding in the upper  
left corner of the screen became highlighted.  
  
"We've got something." The three kids climbed back onto their Minicons and rode to  
the location. It was an abandoned warehouse. They crept inside. They could hear  
the sound of fighting. They ducked behind some crates and spied on the young man  
inside.  
  
It was a boy older than them with long spiky black hair and beady black eyes. He was  
short and had no shirt on. His pants were something that looked like what a samurai  
might wear. He had a kitana sheathed at his side. His white headband was tied tightly  
around his head. He seemed to be deep in meditation.  
  
But he was actually getting ready to attack.  
  
Faster than the blink of an eye, he was on the other side of the room. He leaped up and  
bounced off a support post as well as a catwalk above the ceiling. He did several flips  
and almost seemed to hover there in mid-air. He drew his sword and made several quick  
slashes with it. He then sheathed it and fell to his feet in the center of the area  
where he was training. He stood there for a while, like he was waiting for something.  
  
Finally, he said, "Well, are you just going to stand there gawking or are you actually  
going to say something?"  
  
"Is he talking to us?" Carlos whispered to Alexis.  
  
"How should I know?" Alexis whispered back.  
  
"Of course I'm talking to you," the boy replied without even looking at them. "We're  
the only ones here."  
  
"He saw us!" Rad cried. "Let's get out of here." The kids ran out as fast as their  
Minicons could carry them.  
  
Back inside, the man known as Hiei crossed his arms and closed his eyes. A soft, almost  
whisper of a voice, came from the shadows. "You have a way with children, Hiei."  
  
"I had killed my first human by the time I was their age, Kurama," Hiei told the former  
thief. "Children these days are soft and weak."  
  
"I guess not everybody can be as strong as Yusuke and Kuwabara," Kurama said leaning  
against a crate.  
  
"You mean not everybody can be as strong as Yusuke and me."  
  
Kurama smiled knowingly. "Of course, how silly of me."  
  
Hiei stared at his hand. "I was trying to control the power level of my Dragon of the  
Darkness Flame before those kids came in."  
  
"Any luck?" Kurama asked.  
  
"No, it's just too powerful to regulate."  
  
"Keep trying, I'm sure you can do it."  
  
Back outside, Rad, Carlos, and Alexis breathed a sigh of relief.  
  
"Good thing we decided to get out of there before he decided to kung-fu us to death,"  
Carlos said. He then looked up. There she was again, the girl from the ruins. "Hey!"  
He ran off after her.  
  
"Carlos, where are you going?" Rad called out and started to follow him. Alexis,  
after muttering something under her breath, decided to follow them. Their Minicons  
looked at each other, shrugged and followed after their friends.  
  
Rad looked around for Carlos. Not only has he not seen anyone who even remotely resembled  
the girl from the underwater ruins (except maybe for a four year old leaning into the window  
of a candy store) but he lost Carlos too. He was just about to send Laserbeak to look for  
him when Carlos pulled him into an alley. "Carlos, what..."  
  
Carlos hushed him and turned Rad's head to across the street. There was a girl about their  
age with shoulder-length blonde hair. As she turned, she gave Rad and Carlos a good view  
of her face.  
  
Rad almost had a heart attack.  
  
"Marcy," he muttered. Carlos was just too busy oogling her to hear him. Rad just kept  
muttering to himself. "It can't be... how can it be her?... there's just no way."  
  
Alexis bashed the two of them in the head. "You guys disgust me, sometime. Come on, let's  
get back to Autobot Headquarters." Rad got up and followed Alexis. Carlos just sat there  
staring at the girl who looked like the girl from the ruins until Alexis and Grindor had to  
drag him away.  
  
The negative emotions were high at the Decepticons' Moonbase. Since the Autobots invaded  
and took all the Minicons, the Decepticons themselves had to finish building the spaceship.  
Tidal Wave, Cyclonus, Demolisher and Wheeljack were doing the gruntwork while Megatron,  
Starscream, and Thrust convened in his throne room.  
  
"The Star Saber, the Skyboom Shield, and the Requiem Blaster." Megatron stared at the Minicon  
weapons gathered on a table in front of his throne. "I can almost feel our victory at hand.  
We have the three most powerful weapons in existence," Megatron said. "I could destroy a  
human city in the blink of an eye with the Requiem Blaster."  
  
"No, wait," Starscream protested. "There's no need to! Just leave them alone."  
  
Megatron cast a side glance at the aerial soldier. "If I didn't know any better, Starscream,  
I would say that you actually feel compassion for those humans." Starscream grumbled.  
Megatron had been edging him like this ever since he returned with the Star Saber and the  
Skyboom Shield.  
  
"I think what Starscream is trying to say, Mighty Megatron," Thrust intervened. "Is that  
why waste such tremendous power on lower lifeforms? We should save it for the Autobots, the  
immediate threat. Once we return to Cybertron and destroy all the Autobots, then if you want,  
you can come back and destroy Earth."  
  
Megatron was content with that answer. Thrust sent Starscream a look that said 'you owe me.'  
Starscream turned and went back to his quarters. He wondered if all this was worth usurping  
control of the Decepticons from Megatron. Since he and Thrust had formed a secret alliance,  
Starscream has had this nagging feeling in his circuits. He wished he could stop it. He  
was a Decepticon, a soldier, bred for combat, destined for destruction. That was his lot in  
life. He thought about the surprise party the kids threw him. They were actually showing   
him compassion. Such compassion was unworthy of him, he was a soldier, he would never be   
anything else.  
  
Megatron was toying with the idea of killing humans, the brainchild of the conversation he  
had with Starscream and Thrust. He noticed how devoted the Autobots were too protective of  
the humans, especially those three kids. That was it, that was the Autobots'achilles heel.  
If he started to target the humans, the Autobots would be forced to give up the Minicons.  
It almost worked before, but it might work now that he has the Requiem Blaster.  
  
Back at Autobot Headquarters, Alexis (still fuming at Carlos and Rad for their, actually  
Carlos', attitude) was giving a report to Optimus Prime, accompanied by the images that  
Laserbeak recorded. Carlos was sitting in a corner watching the others finish construction  
on the spaceship, but not actually watching them. He was actually thinking about the Hologram  
girl, the one who first warned them of the Star Saber. In many ways, she set the stage for  
all the battles that were to come.  
  
Rad was visiting Hot Shot in the target range. "Hey, Hot Shot, mind some company?"  
  
"Sure, Rad," Hot Shot said taking his eyes off the target. But his audio receptors noticed  
that Rad's voice seemed depressed. "You okay? You seem bummed about something."  
  
"Carlos thought he saw the hologram girl today."  
  
"You mean the girl who first introduced us to the Star Saber? I thought she was dead."  
  
Rad bit the back of his teeth at the irony of Hot Shot's last sentence. "Yeah, she is."  
  
"I don't see how it could be her though," Hot Shot said as a new target was set up. "What  
Red Alert told me was that it was just an artificial intelligence using a little girl's form  
to communicate." Rad was silent. Hot Shot put his weapon away and gave Rad a little smile.  
"I'm guessing that Carlos was ecstatic."  
  
"Yeah," Rad said absent-mindedly.  
  
"Hey Rad, is something wrong? I mean I thought I was suppose to be the depressed one around  
here."  
  
"Well... it's just that... well I saw her too, although it was briefly. But... she didn't  
remind me of the hologram girl, she reminded me of... someone else."  
  
"Someone else?" Hot Shot repeated. But Rad's only reply was silence. "Is it someone I know?"  
Still silent. "It's okay, Rad, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to."  
  
Rad looked up at his friend. "No, it's okay, Hot Shot, perhaps it would be better if I told  
someone." So Rad told Hot Shot everything and in the end, Hot Shot understood. Rad then went  
back to the control room while Hot Shot decided to bury the hatchet for a while and help the  
Autobots construct their ship.  
  
"Hey, Carlos," Rad greeted.  
  
"Hey, what's up, man?" Carlos said punching Rad's fist in their usual greeting. "You okay?"  
  
"Well... it was about today."  
  
"You mean that weird karate dude?"  
  
"No... it was when we saw the girl who looked like the hologram girl. She reminded me of...  
her." Carlos was confused. He thought about Rad, then her.  
  
Suddenly it clicked.  
  
"Oh man! Dude, I'm sorry, I guess I was too ga-ga over her to notice the resemblance. But  
now I do... but Rad, why now, I mean you didn't seem to act that way when we were at those  
underwater ruins when we first saw her. Is the anniversary showing up?"  
  
"Yeah. Ten years next week."  
  
"Whoa, I had no idea. Are... are you going to visit..."  
  
"Probably. It's the least I could do."  
  
"Hey, man, if you'd like, I could join you."  
  
"Thanks. I think I'd like it."  
  
It was then that Alexis came over to them. "Come on, guys, it's time to go. I don't think  
there's anything we really can do now."  
  
"Yeah, you're right," Rad agreed. "Hey Optimus, you'll contact us if there's anything we  
can do, right?"  
  
"Of course, Rad," Optimus said like it was a stupid question. "The three of you are just  
as important on this team as anyone else."  
  
"Thanks, Optimus, that's good to know." Rad actually took comfort in knowing that the  
Autobots would always be there to back them up and vice versa.  
  
That evening, Alexis pulled up to a corner grocery store. Sureshock asked a question  
although to anyone else, it sounded like an electric guitar out of tune.  
  
"Stay here, I'll be right back," she told the Minicon scooter.  
  
When Alexis came out, she saw that Sureshock was gone. In its place was a bunch of mean-  
looking thugs. Alexis backed up to the store wall. "Hey, I don't want any trouble," she  
said.  
  
"We don't want any trouble either," one of the thugs said. "All we want is some... fun."  
  
Alexis had a faint idea what he meant by 'fun.' She looked around for a place to escape  
but the store had already closed for the night and there were no lights anywhere except for  
the occasional street lamp. She was at their mercy.  
  
Or so she thought.  
  
"Let her go," a harsh voice said. Everybody turned to see Rad and Carlos standing ten feet  
away from them.  
  
"And who are you, her protector?" A thug asked.  
  
"Something like that," Rad replied. "I suggest you leave, unless you want to upset my friend  
here." From the shadows stepped Perceptor, the mini gestalt of High Wire, Sureshock, and Grindor.  
Upon seeing the combined Minicon, the thugs beated it out of there post-haste.  
  
"Alexis, are you okay?" Rad asked.  
  
"Yeah, thanks, but how did you know..."  
  
"Carlos and I saw them hanging around Sureshock so we grabbed it waited to make sure you didn't  
encounter any trouble."  
  
"Well, thanks guys," Alexis said as Perceptor separated.  
  
"The one you should be thanking is Rad. He had the idea of having Perceptor scare these guys,"  
Carlos informed her.  
  
Alexis smiled greatfully at Rad. "Thank you, Rad. I thought..."  
  
"Hey, anything for a friend." He smiled back at her. The clock in the distance chimed five.  
"Well, I guess we better leave. See you tomorrow, Alexis."  
  
"Bye, Rad." As Alexis took off on Sureshock, she began to realize that perhaps Rad wasn't as  
gaa-gaa over the hologram girl as she originally thought. 


	3. Death Becomes Him

Memories of the Dead, Souls of the Living  
  
The next day, the kids were on their way to school when their came a loud explosion.  
  
"What was that?" Alexis asked.  
  
"I don't know," Rad replied. "Let's check it out." The kids got onto their  
Minicons and took off.  
  
They haven't gotten far when they came upon the source of the explosion. An entire  
section of the city had been vaporized. Both kid and Minicon were frightened at the  
sight.  
  
"Wh... what... what happened?" Carlos staggered.  
  
"This is horrible!" Alexis gasped just before collapsing to her knees.  
  
"There's only one thing I know of that can cause such destruction," Rad said grimly.  
  
Alexis immediately caught on. "Rad, it can't be, they wouldn't."  
  
"They would if they were under the control of the Decepticons," Rad said.  
  
"You mean the Requiem Blaster?" Carlos inquired. Rad nodded.  
  
A new explosion echoed through the sky, but this one was different. However, it was  
a sound that the kids were all too familiar with.  
  
The sounds of battle.  
  
The kids immediately went to check it out unaware that they were stealthly being  
followed by Hiei.  
  
The sight that they beheld when they arrived at the source of the fighting was also one  
they were familiar with. Autobot battling Decepticon. Jet Optimus was taking on Megatron  
in his Tidal Wave armor. Scavenger, Smokescreen, Blurr, and Sideswipe were already there  
taking on Cyclonus, Demolisher, Thrust, and Wheeljack. Alexis figured that Hot Shot and  
Red Alert remained behind at headquarters. Red Alert to act as medic and Hot Shot was  
still too emotional to participate in battle.  
  
A beeping sound came from Rad's pocket. He took out Laserbeak. "This is weird, Laserbeak  
never reacted like this before."  
  
"Red Alert programmed Laserbeak to go off if there was a Minicon panel nearby," Alexis told  
her two companions.  
  
"I'll go look for it," Rad said. "The more help we can use on this, the better. You two  
stay out of sight."  
  
"No, Rad, we all go."  
  
"But... Alexis, I don't want you to get hurt."  
  
"I don't want you to get hurt also, Rad," Alexis said laying a hand on his shoulder. "Let  
all of us go."  
  
"But the Autobots are going to need your help," Rad countered. "Don't worry about me, I'll  
be fine." He gave Alexis a quick peck on the cheek then took off, Laserbeak flying besides  
him.  
  
Alexis, after a thought, turned to Highwire. "Highwire, please look after him." The blue  
Minicon nodded and transformed into his bike mode. He followed behind his friend like a  
loyal dog.  
  
"Alexis, I don't understand," Carlos said. "Why is Megatron zapping entire city streets  
for no reason?"  
  
"I... I don't know, Carlos," Alexis said. To tell the truth, she never felt so scared in  
her life. If Megatron was using the Requiem Blaster on humans, then nobody was safe, not  
even them.  
  
"Laserbeak, home in on the Minicon panel," Rad instructed. Laserbeak pulled ahead and flew  
around looking for the Minicon panel. Unknown to Rad, Demolisher's Minicon, Blackout, was  
listening in. He radioed his master.  
  
Despite having two of the Minicon weapons with him and his Tidal Wave armor, Megatron was  
struggling in his battle against Jet Optimus. The gestalt of Optimus Prime and Jet Fire  
has grown incredibly stronger, though Megatron will never admit that. It was only natural,  
since he was now the most strongest Transformer in the universe.  
  
"Demolisher to Megatron," Megatron's internal communication system activated.  
  
"Not now, you mis-matched moron," Megatron insulted as he swung the Star Saber.  
  
"But Megatron, sir, A Minicon has been spotted."  
  
"A Minicon?" Megatron pushed Jet Optimus away. "Well, that's different." This was his  
chance to re-plensih his Minicon army. "Sorry, but I'm going to have to cut this meeting  
short, Optimus. Something better came up." And using his jet pack, Megatron took off.  
  
"Where could he be going?" Jet Optimus thought to himself. "I better follow him."  
  
"Any sign of the Minicon, Laserbeak?" Rad asked. Highwire beeped an answer to Rad: No.  
Suddenly Laserbeak started to fly around a certain area. To Rad, that meant only one thing:  
The Minicon had been found. Rad ran over to where Laserbeak was flying and dug through the  
ground until the edge of a small green panel was revealed. Rad cleaned the dirt around from  
the Minicon panel. "Found it! Now to revive it." Rad placed his palm on the panel to  
activate it but nothing happened. Rad tried again and again to activate it, but it remained  
dormant.  
  
"Perhaps I better check in with Red Alert. Laserbeak, get down here!" Laserbeak transformed  
back into its camera form and Rad spoke to its lens. "Red Alert, can you hear me?"  
  
"Yes, Rad, what is it?" Red Alert's voice came from the communicator built into Laserbeak.  
  
"Red Alert, I found a Minicon panel, but it won't revive. I was thinking, maybe it's another  
Minicon team like the weapons."  
  
"I suppose its possible. Have Laserbeak record it for analysis." Rad complied and Red Alert  
used the Autobot computer to analyze it.  
  
"Well, what's the result, Alert?"  
  
"It's a blank panel," Red Alert concluded.  
  
"A blank panel?"  
  
"Minicons are normally compressed into panels. It's possible that one of the pods used to  
compress the Minicons was empty when the Minicons went to sleep just before they crashed on  
Earth," Red Alert explained.  
  
"So there really is no Minicon," Rad said. Apparently his trip was for nothing. "All right,  
thanks, Red Alert. I better get back to Alexis and Carlos."  
  
"Listen, Rad, I want you three to come to headquarters immediately. For some reason, Megatron  
has been taking pot shots at busy streets."  
  
Rad's heart froze. "You mean that... that crater... was Megatron's doing?" That was a stupid  
question. Only the Requiem Blaster had that kind of power and Megatron currently possessed the  
Requiem Blaster.  
  
"I believe so," Red Alert said. "That's what prompted Optimus to dispatch the Autobots."  
  
Rad still couldn't believe it. To cruelly control others is one thing, but to play god with   
their lives? To just decide who lives and dies? No, this was even worse than that. Megatron  
freely-chose to kill humans. Not kidnap, not control, kill! He wanted to kill humans. He treated  
humans like they were insignificant, like they were nothing but moving targets. Rad felt sick,  
sick beyond any flu, beyond any virus or disease. He felt sick with anger, sick with grief,  
sick with despair.  
  
"Red Alert..." Rad said but his voice was barely a whisper. "How many... what were the  
casualties?"  
  
Red Alert didn't know if he should tell Rad. Everything in his spark said not to divulge the  
information. But... on the other hand, Rad did have a right to know. It was his home town,  
he probably had friends who were caught in the blast.  
  
Red Alert did a couple of quick calculations then said, "According to the news reports, the  
estimated casualties are... 215." Even Red Alert was surprised by the number.  
  
"Two... two hundred and fifteen." Rad's heart jumped into his throat.  
  
"Rad, sensors are indicating a Decepticon heading your way," Red Alert warned. "Get out of  
there before..."  
  
"Human!" A voice called. Rad looked up to see Megatron flying down towards him. "Surrender  
the Minicon!"  
  
"You kill hundreds of people and you have the nerve to demand a Minicon?" Rad snapped.  
  
"I'll kill thousands of humans if it means to get a Minicon," Megatron declared. "I'll even  
kill you. Now surrender the Minicon!"  
  
"It wouldn't do you any good. This Minicon's a blank. It's a panel without a Minicon."  
  
For a minute, it looked like Megatron believed Rad, he then aimed his Tidal Wave cannon at the  
boy. "Nice try, human, but there's no such thing as a blank Minicon pannel." The cannon fired.  
  
A beam of black fire that looked suspiciously like a dragon, for lack of a better term, "consumed"  
the energy blast that Megatron emitted.  
  
"What was that?" Megatron asked. He looked around but couldn't find the source. "That didn't  
look like any energy blast. It almost looked... alive."  
  
Hidden out of sight, Hiei wiped his hands. "Well, at least now that pathetic Kuwabara can't say  
I never did anything nice for anyone." He then disappeared.  
  
Megatron forgot about Hiei's Dragon of the Darkness Flame and landed. Highwire leaped at the  
Decepticon commander but Megatron brushed him aside with incredible ease. He then trained the   
Requiem Blaster on Rad. "I hate repeating myself, human, so I'm only going to say this one more   
time. Give me the Minicon pannel. Do it or I will varporize you."  
  
"I don't like repeating myself either, Megatron," Rad snapped. "So I'll only say this one more  
time as well. The Minicon pannel is a blank. Even if I did give it to you, it wouldn't do you  
any good. Now just go back home."  
  
"You insignificant little speck." He pulled the trigger of the Requiem Blaster.  
  
Jet Optimus was coming into view and while he didn't hear the conversation about the Minicon  
pannel, he realized what Megatron was about to do upon seeing the setup. "Megatron, no, don't   
do it!" Deep down, he knew that even if Megatron heard him, he wouldn't obey him.  
  
Rad knew that he shouldn't have been surprised by this action from Megatron. After vaporizing  
an area of over 200 people, this was a logical conclusion. Still, it took him by surprise as  
an enormous, even by Transformer standards, wave of energy shot towards him at mach speed.  
  
Despite himself, Rad heard himself muttering a name followed by five words: "Marcy, I'm coming  
to join you."  
  
To Rad's surprise, the energy hitting him didn't hurt as much as he thought. It was almost like  
he was getting an intense tan. But he could still feel his body evaporating bit by bit.  
  
~Alexis, I'm sorry,~ were his final thoughts.  
  
Laserbeak short-circuited and fell.  
  
Alexis gasped as her palm pilot suddenly fell out of her pocket and cracked.  
  
"Uh-oh, I think that's a bad omen," Carlos commented.  
  
Alexis hated to admit it, but he was right. ~Did something happen to Laserbeak? Wait a minute,  
wasn't it with Rad? Oh my God!~ "SURESHOCK!" Alexis shouted at the top of her lungs. Sureshock  
transformed and Alexis leaped on. Carlos followed with Grindor.  
  
Jet Optimus could only watch in horror as Rad was blasted at direct range with the Requiem Blaster.  
  
"RAD, NO!" Jet Optimus flew as fast as he could but even he knew that there was no way he could stop  
it in time. Again, he could only watch as Rad's body violently disappeared.  
  
The Minicon pannel landed in front of Megatron. He picked it up and stared at it.  
  
"That's strange, it won't revive." Leader-1 appeared on his shoulder and let out a series of beeps.  
"So the kid was right, it was a blank. Oh well." Megatron threw the panel away and turned to leave.  
  
"Megatron!" Jet Optimus flew down with anger in his eyes. "You will pay for what you did, Megatron!  
I'll personally make you suffer."  
  
Megatron looked at the Autobot gestalt with indifference. He then activated his Decepticon. "All  
Decepticons withdraw at once. I repeat, all Decepticons withdraw at once." And without a single  
word to his rival (although he did give him a smirk of satisfaction, a smirk that showed that he  
totally defeated him), he warped out.  
  
Optimus and Jetfire separated and Optimus pounded on the ground. "No, this isn't possible, how  
could this happen. I failed, I failed him."  
  
The other Autobots arrived then. They looked around and Scavenger immediately deduced that  
something bad had happened. Someone had died.  
  
And judging from the way Highwire and Laserbeak looked, it was easy to figure out who it was.  
  
"Jetfire, what happened?" Smokescreen asked the Sub-Commander. Jetfire grimly told them what  
happened.  
  
It was then that Alexis and Carlos arrived. Alexis looked from Optimus, to Highwire, to  
Laserbeak. She looked around for Rad.  
  
Her face gone as white as a sheet and she sank to her knees again. This time, she almost fell  
flat on her face. She cried into her hands.  
  
"Rad... no, you can't be dead, you can't be. No... No!... NOOOOOOO!" Alexis screamed at the top  
of her lungs. 


	4. Spirited Away

Memories of the Dead, Souls of the Living  
  
Koenma Jr., ruler of the Spirit World, paced up and down his desk. "This isn't good,  
this is not good, I thought something like this was suppose to happen every hundred  
years. This isn't good, this isn't good, this isn't good." He turned to Ogre, his  
assistant. "Do you know that this isn't good, Ogre?"  
  
The blue monster just rolled his eyes. "Yes, Koenma, sir, I know this isn't good."  
  
"No, I don't think you do." Koenma shook his finger at Ogre.  
  
"Sir..."  
  
"However, because I'm so smart, so kind and so handsome, I will enlighten you.   
A case like this is suppose to happen every hundred years or so. Having it  
happen once was just a nuisance, but if it continues like this, it could really  
weaken the order of the Spirit World."  
  
"But Koenma, sir, this is only the second time it happened. Don't you think you're  
overeacting just a little?"  
  
"Just get Botan in here," Koenma said giving him an evil look.  
  
Ogre sighed. There were times when he really hated his job.  
  
Moments later, the young-looking ferrywoman of the dead was standing in her boss'  
office. "You wanted to see me, Koenma, sir."  
  
"Botan, I'm afraid I have some bad news."  
  
"Oh no, your father isn't having one of his nervous breakdowns again? Last time  
that happened, we had to send him to Buddha for counselling."  
  
"I almost wish it was that, Botan, at least we were prepared for that. But,   
actually, we have a code 2986."  
  
Botan gasped and almost dropped her oar. Code 2986 was spirit world code for   
an unauthorized passing away.  
  
"A code 2986, but I thought those happened once every hundread years." Botan had  
only dealt with a code 2986 once before, with Yusuke Urameshi.  
  
"Well we are in a new century, Botan." Botan kept her mouth shut, deciding it was  
best to let Junior be right on this, or at least make him think he was. Koenma   
motioned Botan to look at his screen as an image of Rad appeared. "His name is Rad.  
This kid has had more brushes with death than anybody'd care to count. I'm afraid  
that his time came much too early. We don't have anything planned for him yet."  
  
"So are you going to give him an ordeal like you did Yusuke?" Botan asked.  
  
"No," Koenma replied.   
  
Botan reacted with surprise. "What do you mean no?"  
  
"Unlike Yusuke, whose life actions were... somewhat questionable, this boy is noble   
through and through. It would be unfair to give him an ordeal when he constatntly  
proves himself of his nobility in life. Not to mention that unlike Yusuke, Rad's  
body was completely destroyed. The rules have changed a little bit, Botan. Bring   
Rad in. By that time, I'll probably figure out what to do by then." Botan nodded   
and left.  
  
Ogre sighed again. "This isn't good."  
  
Rad sat staring at the sun. For some reason, his eyes weren't hurting like they  
should've been. He blinked.  
  
"Okay, this is weird," he said. "Wasn't I about to get zapped with the Requiem  
Blaster?" He looked down at himself. He could see his arms, legs, chest, and torso.  
As far as he knew, nothing was missing.  
  
"Wow, talk about good luck." He got up when he realized that he couldn't feel the  
ground. He looked down.  
  
He was over 200 feet in the air.  
  
Rad screamed for all he's worth and flapped his arms and legs in a desperate attempt  
to keep himself from falling. Then he realized that he wasn't falling. "Okay, what's  
going on here? First, I'm about to be disintegrated by the Requiem Blaster, now I'm  
suddenly high in the air being supported by nothing yet not falling at all."  
  
Rad took a risk and looked down again. He could see the Autobots and his friends  
gathering around.  
  
"Hey, guys!" Rad called as he flew down to meet them. "Hey Smokescreen, look at what  
I..." Rad passed right through Smokescreen.  
  
Rad turned around but Smokescreen was apparently looking past Rad. Rad turned around  
and saw that Optimus Prime was talking.  
  
"Optimus, it's me, I'm all right," Rad said.  
  
"I was too late," Optimus was saying.  
  
"Hey, we were too late," Jet Fire corrected. "Don't forget I was technically there too."  
  
"Jet Fire's right, Optimus," Scavenger said. "You can't place the entire blame on  
yourself."  
  
"Yeah, I say it's Megatron's fault, he pulled the trigger," Sideswipe fumed.  
  
"No, Sideswipe," Optimus said. "A leader must take responsibility for those underneath  
his command. Rad was under my command. His death was my fault."  
  
"Huh? My death? Optimus, I'm right here. Hey, hello?" Rad waved his arm in front of  
Optimus Prime's face, but Optimus was unresponsive.  
  
Rad looked over at Alexis and Carlos. Alexis was crying crcodile tears. Carlos and  
Sureshock were trying to comfort her but it was no use. Highwire was silent and unmoving,  
most likely mourning in his own way. Grindor was observing him.  
  
"This can't be," Rad said. "But... there's no other explanation. I... I'm dead, I'm really  
dead."  
  
"You got it. You're pretty smart for someone your age." Rad looked over and saw a young  
woman sitting on an oar. Her light blue hair was pulled back in a pony tail and her eyes  
were wide and violet.  
  
Rad screamed. "A witch!"  
  
"Death, actually," Botan corrected.  
  
"Uh... excuse me, but did you say death?"  
  
"Yup. Death, Grim Reaper, El Diablo... actually, I never did like that name. Anyway, you  
can just call me Botan."  
  
"Okay, Botan, am I really dead?"  
  
"Yup. Dead as a doornail. It's my job to take dead people wherever they need to go."  
  
"So... where do I need to go?"  
  
Botan blushed embarrassingly. "Uh... well... you see, there's kind of a little problem."  
  
"What kind of a problem?" Rad asked, wondering if things could get any worse.  
  
"You see, you... we weren't... uh... you're not suppose to be dead."  
  
It just got worse.  
  
"What?!" Rad almost fell into Smokescreen. "You mean... I wasn't suppose to die?!"  
  
"That's right."  
  
"But... Megatron was aiming the Requiem Blaster at me! There was no way I could've  
dodged that! And you're telling me I wasn't suppose to die."  
  
"Well, you know that panel thing you were looking for? Well you weren't suppose to  
look for it."  
  
"I... I wasn't?"  
  
"Nope. That yellow thing..." Botan pointed to Laserbeak, "Wasn't suppose to go off. You  
weren't supposed to go to look for it. And besides, the panel was useless. Had you not  
go looking for it, you wouldn't had attracted the attention of the big purple guy.  
So basically... you died for nothing."  
  
When Botan told Yusuke that his death was a total waste, Yusuke got upset and yelled, an  
action which Botan learned was pretty normal from Yusuke. But Rad reacted differently.  
He felt like he just been betrayed by his best friend. He turned and walked (he probably  
forgot he could fly) away.  
  
Botan humphed. "I've got to learn to keep my big mouth shut."  
  
Rad sat on a cliffside, near where they first found Sparkplug. He stared up at the setting  
sky and pondered his situation. Not only was he dead, but his death was all for nothing,   
just a blank Minicon pannel and Megatron's personal amusement.  
  
"Don't feel too bad," Botan said. "You're not the first one who died needlessly."  
  
"All I wanted to do was be usefull to the Autobots," Rad said. "And the one time I actually  
tried, I blew it big time."  
  
"Um... Rad, I didn't tell you this earlier because you didn't give me a chance, but...   
well... there is a way to get you your life back."  
  
Rad's head shot up. "What? You mean there's a chance I can come back to life. How?"  
  
Again, Botan wished she kept her mouth shut. Koenma didn't exactly give any details on how  
this resurrection thing was suppose to take place. Perhaps it was time to do what she  
originally came here to do: bring Rad to see Koenma. "Well, I don't know, but I can take you  
to someone who does know. But it'll mean that you'll be gone a while."  
  
"How long?" Botan shrugged. "All right. But... Botan, can we do something before we leave?"  
  
"Sure, dear, what do you want to do?"  
  
Rad and Botan materialized inside Alexis' bedroom. Highwire and Sureshock seemed to be shut  
off. Alexis herself was sleeping in her bed although it was far from sound.  
  
"You know, I've only been in here once," Rad commented. "We were studying for finals last year,  
before we met the Autobots. She ended up getting an A as always, I only got a C+."  
  
Rad approached Alexis' bed. "Hey, Alexis," he said like he was talking to her at school during  
class. "I've gotta go on a little trip. Make sure you kick the Decepticons' butts for me." He  
already repeated this message (with several variations) to Carlos, Billy, Fred, the Autobots and  
his parents. But for some reason, saying good-bye to Alexis was the hardest. "Alexis... don't  
feel sad for me. I'm glad to have met you, met everyone. You've all been like family to me.  
Especially you, Alexis. Thanks for everything."  
  
As Rad turned to leave, a faint voice came from Alexis' bed. "Rad..." Rad turned. Alexis still  
looked asleep although her eyes had began dispensing a fresh wave of tears. "Rad... please...  
don't leave me."  
  
"Botan, can she hear me?" Rad asked.  
  
"I doubt it," Botan said. "Most likely she's just dreaming."  
  
"Maybe..." Rad trailed off. He went up to her again. "Good-bye, Alexis. I... I love you."  
  
He then noticed Highwire. He was online and staring right at him. "Botan, Highwire... he's looking  
right at me! Can robots see ghosts?"  
  
"I don't think so," Botan said. "But he might be able to sense the energy that we're emitting.  
Ghosts emitt a certain energy signal that can be picked up but only briefly. Anyway, we should  
get going before he gets suspicious. Rad and Botan floated away. Sureshock woke up and saw  
Highwire staring at the window. The two Minicons had a brief conversation which ended with a  
shrug from Highwire and the two shut down again.  
  
Rad stared at Alexis' house from the back of Botan's oar. He was beginning to wonder if this was the  
right thing to do.  
  
"We're going to the Spirit World," Botan explained. "The ruler there, Koenma, will explain what you  
need to do to get your life back."  
  
"I won't have to do anything bad like sacrifice a virgin or something?"  
  
"You've been watching too much television. I don't think it'll be anything as bad as that."  
  
Ten minutes after take off, Botan and Rad were already cruising through the Spirit World. All the  
new sights were overwhelming to Rad. He probably would've fainted if he was still alive. They  
arrived at Koenma's pallace and shown into his office.  
  
"Now Koenma may look a little strange, but don't let that fool you," Botan said as they walked the  
long hallway to Koenma's office. "He's very wise and very powerful. Even his enemies treat him with  
integrity and formality."  
  
Rad nodded.  
  
"Well, here we are," Botan announced. The doors opened and Botan was surprised to see Kurama there.  
"Rad, may I present Koenma Jr., ruler of the Spirit World."  
  
It took all of Rad's will not to burst into laughter upon seeing the child-like ruler of Spirit  
World. Fortunately for Rad, Koenma has gotten so used to Yusuke's taunts that now, he just tunes them  
out. "Pleased to meet you, Rad, please, come in." Rad looked around Koenma's luscious office (noting  
with particular curiosity the giant blue monster standing erect at the side of Koenma's chair).  
  
Koenma sat in his chair. "So, in case you don't know the particular situation you're in, let me fill you  
in. You died, but you weren't supposed to, so it looks like we'll have to rectify that situation."  
  
"But how, Mister Koenma?" Rad asked. "My body was disintegrated, wasn't it?"  
  
"Yes it was and in that lies the difficulty. A body resurrection is very delicate. Could take days,  
even weeks."  
  
"It can be done."  
  
"Of course it can. For someone like me, a body resurrection is easy. Tricky, but easy. The question  
is, do you want me to do it?"  
  
"What kind of a question is that? Of course I do."  
  
"You sure? It would be much easier to give you a new life, a chance to start anew." Koenma stared at  
him questionly.  
  
Rad didn't even consider it for a second. "A life without the Autobots? A life where I never met  
Alexis or Carlos? A normal life? No way! I enjoyed the life I'm living... er... was living. I  
wouldn't trade it for anything in the world! Mister Koenma, please, give me my life back."  
  
Koenma stared hard into Rad's eyes. He never saw such a fusion of compassion and bravery in this boy  
before. Even Yusuke didn't possess such traits the firts time they met.  
  
"Very well, Rad, I'll get started on the resurrection spell right away."  
  
It was then that a red version of Ogre came running in. "Koenma, sir, we're under attack!" 


	5. New Body, New Mission

A/N: If you guys know anyone who's a fan of either Transformers Armada OR Yu-Yu Hakusho, be sure to tell  
them about this fanfic. I hope it will appeal to both audiences.  
  
Memories of the Dead, Souls of the Living  
  
"Koenma, sir, we're under attack!"  
  
That caught even the normally calm Kurama off-guard. Koenma activated his monitor and saw an army of  
demons at the outer doors trying to barge their way in.  
  
"They call themselves the Alliance of Darkling," the red monster explained. "Spirit World intelligence  
believes they're a fanatical group who want to establish their own government."  
  
"This is an outrage!" Koenma shouted. "My family has ruled over Spirit World justly. Haven't I ruled  
justly, Ogre?"  
  
"Of course, Koenma, sir."  
  
"We have no choice. Call in everyone. I want every Spirit Detective, apparition, demon, mystic,   
psychic and warrior protecting us at all cost. Botan, get Yusuke and Kuwabara. If we fall, dark forces  
will run free in the human world."  
  
"You got it."  
  
"I shall also fight in your defense," Kurama said brandishing his rose. "You shall need all the help  
you can get."  
  
"I'll fight too," Hiei said stepping from the shadows.  
  
"You're that guy who was emitting the strange energy," Rad accused.  
  
"And you were part of that group spying on me," Hiei countered.  
  
"Ah, I see you already met," Koenma noted.  
  
"Hey wait a minute," Rad said. "If I'm a ghost, why can you see me?"  
  
"Let's just say I have an eye for seeing the unusual."  
  
"If you're all done lingering, WE HAVE A CRISIS HERE!" Koenma yelled. "Botan, get Yusuke and  
Kuwabara here pronto!"  
  
"Right." Botan immediately took off for the human realm.  
  
As they were walking home from school, Kuwabara noticed something odd about Yusuke Urameshi.  
  
He was carrying books.  
  
School books.  
  
"Hey Urameshi, since when do you carry books?"  
  
"Since Takanaka said I needed to pass this semester or I'll never pass at all."  
  
"You, caring about school? All right, who are you and what have you done with the real Yusuke  
Urameshi?"  
  
"I want to get out of here as quickly as possible, Kuwabara. That's why I'm going to skim these  
books over the weekend."  
  
"Is Keiko going to help you study?" Kuwabara wiggled his eyebrows revealing the hidden meaning  
behind that question.  
  
"Don't forget, I can zap your ass back to the stone age," Yusuke said holding up his index finger.  
  
"Ha, I dare you to try. I'm a lot stronger than I used to be."  
  
"That's rich."  
  
"Yusuke, Kuwabara!" Botan appeared before him in her human guise.  
  
"Yikes!" Kuwabara jumped back about three feet. "Botan, don't sneak up on us like that!"  
  
"Sorry, Kuwabara, but you and Yusuke are needed in Spirit World immediately!"  
  
"What's got Koenma upset this time, lost his bottle?" Yusuke joked.  
  
"Yusuke, this is no time for stand-up! Spirit World's under attack! Koenma's recalling  
everyone to the palace including you two so come on!"   
  
"Hey, Urameshi, this sounds serious," Kuwabara commented.  
  
"Congratulations, Kuwabara, you get the Mr. Obvious award. If Koenma gathering all his  
forces, something must be wrong. Let's go, Botan." Yusuke dropped the books on the floor.  
  
"Hey, you're not leaving me behind," Kuwabara said. Botan took their hands and they   
teleported right to Koenma's castle just as Keiko Yukimura came around the corner.  
  
"That's weird, I thought I heard Yusuke and Kuwabara here," Keiko said to herself. "But now  
they aren't here. I wonder where they went." She saw Yusuke's books. "These are the books  
we were going to study with." Keiko's face generated a scowl. "Oooh, I bet he's off on one  
of those cases with that Botan girl." She picked up Yusuke's books and stomped home.  
  
Koenma gathered his forces in a large meeting room. There were all kinds of creatures gathered  
there. Some were human, some looked human, while others looked downright monsterous.  
  
Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Botan walked into the meeting room, receiving suspicious looks from some of  
the other beings, in particularly a giant mountain of a demon called Aragoth.  
  
"Hey, can't you read the sign, it says no humans allowed," Aragoth said.  
  
"Well I guess that means Kuwabara can stay," Yusuke said indifferently. Kuwabara fumed at that  
remark.  
  
"Hey, watch it, Urameshi."  
  
Recognition registered on Aragoth's face. "So you're the famous Yusuke Urameshi, Koenma's prized  
Spirit Detective. Hmph, I don't see what's so special about you. It must've been luck that you  
defeated the Four Saint Beasts."  
  
"Keep pissing me off, ogre-face, and you'll see first-hand just HOW I defeated the Four Saint  
Beasts," Yusuke retorted.  
  
"It's wise if you don't antagonize him, Aragoth," Hiei said walking up to them. "He's been known  
to follow up on his threats."  
  
"Oh great, it's short, dark, and demented-looking," Kuwabara muttered.  
  
"Hiei!" Aragoth gasped with fear and awe. "Why are you sticking up for a measley human?"  
  
"I'm only looking out for your well-being, but since you obviously don't care about whether you  
live or die, who am I to stop you?" Hiei turned and walked away. "Go ahead and do whatever you  
want to him, Yusuke." Yusuke smiled and cracked his knuckles.  
  
"Wait a second, I take it back, I don't want any trouble," Aragoth said and then quickly  
disappeared (there were larger beings there) into the crowd.  
  
Kuwabara scratched his head. "I don't get it, I thought he was evil."  
  
"Hiei is unique, even by demon standards," Kurama said walking up to them.  
  
"Kurama, you're here too? This must be serious."  
  
"More than you know, Yusuke."  
  
It was then that Koenma made an appearance in his teenage form. "Ah, good, you're all here.  
Listen, an evil force called The Alliance of Darkling has penetrated the boarder of Spirit  
World and they're intent on throwing me out."  
  
"What's the Alliance of Darkling?" Kuwabara asked. Botan hushed him and some of the others  
gathered laughed at his ignorance.  
  
But Koenma, to everyone's surprise, answered Kuwabara's question. "The Alliance of Darkling  
is a young group, only about 700 years old. It was originally a political party dedicated to  
making sure my family never sits on the throne of Spirit World. Since then, it has rapidly  
grew into an army."  
  
"What's the plan, Koenma, sir?" A female pink-scaled demon asked.  
  
"Unfortunately, Erkia, I don't have one. I don't even know who their leaders are." Ogre came  
up and whispered somethinn in Koenma's ear. "Actually, maybe I do." Koenma turned to a view  
screen behind him. An image of five creatures appeared. One was a red humanoid dragon in  
broad shorts. The second was a cyborg, the third looked like a little girl, the fourth was an  
elderly man and the fifth was a cloaked figure.  
  
"Attention Spirit World," the cloaked figure said. "You will surrender King Enma and his son,  
Koenma, Jr. to us right now or else, our armies will destroy you. You must surrender them  
within twenty minutes or else you shall be destroyed!" And the transmission ended.  
  
"I see," Koenma said. "So, it's them."  
  
"Koenma," Yusuke called leaping up onto the stage.  
  
Koenma turned around and saw him. "Oh, Yusuke, I didn't see you arrive."  
  
"Yeah. So, you know them?"  
  
"I know of them. They were exiled from Spirit World long ago. They must've worked their way  
up to become leaders of the Alliance of Darkling."  
  
"They don't look so tough," Yusuke commented.  
  
"Didn't you say the same thing about the Four Saint Beasts?" Hiei asked.  
  
"Actually, I think that was Kuwabara."  
  
"Hey, leave me out of this!" Kuwabara demanded.  
  
"You brought him along?" Hiei asked annoyed.  
  
"I figured Koenma could use all the help he can get, even from someonine like Kuwabara."  
  
"We're in real trouble."  
  
"I'm right here, you know," Kuwabara reminded him.  
  
"Okay, getting back on track," Koenma said. "Now that I know who we're dealing with, we can  
formulate a plan of attack."  
  
"And that plan is?" Aragoth asked.  
  
"While a majority of our forces holds off the army, a small team will sneak into the headquarters  
of the Alliance and destroy their leaders. With their leaders down, the army will crumble."  
  
"Whoever's part of that force has got to be either really powerful or really insane," Aragoth said.  
  
"Sounds like the perfect job for me," Yusuke said. "Koenma, I'll be part of the group who takes on  
the leader."  
  
"Let the human go to his death," Aragoth voiced and some of the others chimed in their agreement.  
  
"Normally, I wouldn't mind seing Yusuke go to his doom," Hiei commented. "But this is just too  
important to trust to simply a human. I'm going too."  
  
"As will I," Kurama said. "Having two demons along will reduce the possibility of getting attacked  
by friendly forces."  
  
"Thanks, guys," Yusuke said. "I'd really appreciate that."  
  
"Hey, don't think you'll be leaving me behind on this one," Kuwabara said. "I'm going too."  
  
"Very well then. Yusuke, Kuwabara, Hiei, and Kurama, your mission (should you choose to accept it)  
is to penetrate the headquarters of the Alliance of Darkling and take out their leaders. Personally,  
I'd like them alive but if you must kill them, then so be it." The group nodded.  
  
"Botan, get then properly equipped," Koenma ordered. "The rest of you, get ready to engage their main  
forces!" The entire room erupted into a battle cry.  
  
Rad watched then all piling out to begin their fight. And not for the first time, he felt helpless.  
These guys were going into battle and there was nothing he could do to help out.  
  
Koenma came out and saw Rad. "I'm sorry, Rad," he said. "But until I can deal with this crisis, I  
can't resurrect your body."  
  
It's all right, Koenma," Rad said. "I just wish there was something I could do to help. I hate  
just waiting around like I'm helpless. I guess... I guess that's part of the reason why I went to  
search for that blank Minicon panel, so that I wouldn't just stand around like I always do. So that  
I could do something important."  
  
Koenma put his hand on his chin. "Hmmm... perhaps there is a way for you to help us."  
  
"But how? I mean my body was disintegrated, remember?"  
  
"Rad, you're a ghost," Koenma reminded him.  
  
Rad immediately caught on. "Wait a minute, ghosts can possess people, right?"  
  
"That's right. Normally, to possess a mortal, the host has to be knocked out. However, people with  
decent amounts of spirit energy need not be knocked out to be possessed. Oniko, over here!" Koenma  
summoned a human-looking male. He was bald and bad beady black eyes. He was dressed in a red shirt  
with a white diamond on the front, blue stretch pants, white boots and gloves with red diamonds on  
them, and a red cape. "Rad, this is Oniko, a Spirit Detective much like Yusuke Urameshi. Oniko, I  
want Rad here to possess you for this mission."  
  
Oniko crossed his arms. "And what's in it for me?"  
  
"Being possessed means your spirit energy would substantially increase," Koenma explained.  
  
"Increased spirit energy? Now that's something I like. Fine, I'll let the kid possess me, but  
only until this mission is over. You got it, kid?"  
  
Rad nodded. "You bet. I hope I won't be a burden for you."  
  
"So do I. All right, let's do this."  
  
"Koenma... um... I never possessed anybody before."  
  
"It's real easy," Koenma said. "Just go inside the person's body. Once your spirit energy is  
alligned, you'll be able to move as one."  
  
Rad took a deep breath (then reminded himself that he doesn't breath any more) and floated into Oniko's  
body. The experience felt strange to him. It was not unlike when he changed into his Autobot jumpsuit.  
  
Rad took a breath and this time, he could feel his lungs working. He was alive again.  
  
Sort of.  
  
Rad looked at himself in the reflection of the wall. "I... I'm alive again."  
  
"Not exactly. You're basically taking control of Oniko's body the same way you would control an RC  
car."  
  
"It doesn't matter," Rad said. "I'm just glad to be able to help out."  
  
"Rad, I must warn you that if Oniko's body dies, you won't be able to possess anyone ever again, not  
even your own body. Are you still willing to go through with this?"  
  
"To the end," Rad said.  
  
"What you're doing is very brave, Rad," Koenma said. "In gratitude, I'll try to work on the body  
resurrection spell. Which means now you have a reason to come back in one piece. Now come on, lets  
go meet your teammates."  
  
Botan handed Yusuke and Kurama two metallic objects shaped like makeup cases. "These are your new  
spirit communicators. They have better reception and broader range. They're also enable to withstand  
energy attacks from close range. But be careful not to lose them."  
  
"You got it," Yusuke said.  
  
"Hey, is there one for me?" Kuwabara asked.  
  
"Sorry, but two's all we can spare. We'll need one to communicate to you with. Also, Yusuke..." Botan  
handed the teenager a watch with a spinning red needle.  
  
"Hey, you fixed the Demon Compass!" Yusuke exclaimed.  
  
"Yup. After that nasty incident with Rando, we've improved it so now it won't go haywire whenever   
you're near someone with large spirit energy."  
  
"You took on Rando the Human Hunter?" Hiei queried. "You're braver than I thought."  
  
"All right, looks like it's the four of us against the leadership of the Alliance," Yusuke declared.  
  
"Five," Koenma ammended walking up with Rad. "Rad here will accompany you."  
  
"You've possessed someone," Kurama guessed.  
  
"That's right. I really want to help out you guys."  
  
"Just what we need, another person to babysit," Hiei moaned.  
  
"Another? Who's the first?" Kuwabara asked.  
  
"How any one human can be this dense is beyond me," Hiei told Yusuke.  
  
"Yeah, I'm having trouble realizing it myself," Yusuke agreed.  
  
"All right," Rad said enthusiastic. "Let's roll out!" Everyone stared at him oddly. Rad blushed.  
"Sorry, got caught up in the moment."  
  
As Yusuke and the others left, Botan said, "I hope Rad will be all right."  
  
"He's a strong kid, stronger than he realizes," Koenma said. "I have a feeling he's destined for  
greatness. Come on, Botan, let's get this battle started."  
  
"I only hope it doesn't erupt into a war," Botan said following her leader out. 


	6. Spirit Arrow

Memories of the Dead, Souls of the Living  
  
Yusuke, Kuwabara, Rad, and Kurama ran through the forest while Hiei hopped from tree to tree.  
  
"I hope Botan's right about their headquarters being in this direction," Yusuke said.  
  
"I think she is," Kurama commented. "I'm feeling some strong apparitions in this direction."  
  
"Be careful," Hiei called out. "They might have..." Suddenly several vines with thorns on  
them lashed out. Yusuke and the others fought back.  
  
"They're tree spirits!" Kurama identified. "They're normally docile. The Alliance must've  
put some sort of spell on them." He flipped and dodged them so that some of the vines ended up  
tied together.  
  
"How do we stop them?" Kuwabara asked.  
  
"There must be someone controlling them nearby," Hiei said but he was too busy slicing up vines  
to take a look.  
  
Rad looked around and saw something with horns snickering in a bush not too far away. He snuck  
up behind him.  
  
The little imp was too busy laughing at Yusuke's and the other's predicament to notice Rad   
until the boy trapped in a man's body said, "Lights out." And delivered a sharp kick to the   
Imp's head. The imp fell over dazed. Rad picked the imp up by its legs and brought him back   
to the others.  
  
"Hey guys, I found this guy near by," Rad said. "Could he be behind some of this?"  
  
"Good job, Rad," Kurama congratulated. "His type have the ability to manipulate other  
apparitions."  
  
"You can't prove that I did this!"  
  
"Let me at him," Kuwabara said. "I'll make him tell us exactly what we need ot know." He  
cracked his knuckles.  
  
The imp screamed. "Aaaaahhhhh! All right, all right, I'll tell you anything, just don't hurt  
me."  
  
"Aww man, I wanted to pound something," Kuwabara complained.  
  
"Did the Alliance of Darkling sent you?" Kurama asked.  
  
"Yes, yes they did. They wanted me to stop any of Koenma's forces."  
  
"Do you know where there base is?" Hiei said.  
  
"Um... yes I do."  
  
"Lead us there," Yusuke snapped.  
  
The imp shivered, knowing what these humans and demons could do to him if he said no. "Fine."  
  
"So our little diversionary tactic has failed."  
  
"Do not worry, Kenryu. They will not get to us."  
  
"And what makes you so sure, Armex?"  
  
"Satoshi has a point, Shadow. They might be more powerful than they realize."  
  
"I agree, Reina. Prepare the fortress. One way or another, they will be destroyed!"  
  
The sounds of battle could be heard from all around them. Hiei scouted ahead and came back  
with news. "The battle's begun. Each force is evenly-matched so we could mean the difference  
between life and death for them."  
  
Rad's face showed a shadow of a doubt. What if this Alliance destroys them. Not only would he  
be responsible for someone's death (Oniko, who's body he's currently inhabiting), but he would  
be unable to come back in his normal body. He didn't want to be responsible for somebody's death.  
  
Suddenly the imp broke away from Rad's grasp and ran away.  
  
"Hey, come back!" Rad called.  
  
"Forget him," Hiei called back. "We're here." Yusuke and his allies came up to a large hexagonal-  
shaped fortress that stretched up at least five stories.  
  
"Man, this looks bigger than the Autobot base," Rad muttered.  
  
An image of the cloaked figure that headed the first message appeared in front of them. "So these  
are Koenma's great defenders," it said. "Two puny humans, two demons, and a possessed apparition?  
How insulting."  
  
"We aren't your garden variety humans, bub," Kuwabara commented.  
  
"Yeah, we're the humans, demons, and apparition who are going to kick your ass, freak."  
  
"I am called Shadow, human. And if you want to defeat me, you'll have to make it up the Shen-Lo  
Fortress. Each of my top warriors are hidden within a level of the fortress. You must defeat them  
to proceed."  
  
"Sound familiar, guys?" Yusuke asked.  
  
"It's like the Four Saint Beasts," Kurama said catching on.  
  
Yusuke spoke to Shadow. "Fine, we'll play your game."  
  
"Then enter... if you dare." The large oak double doors with five symbols on them parted.  
  
"Hey guys, what if this is a trap?" Rad asked remembering the time Megatron caught him and his friends  
and had the Autobots exchange their Minicons for them. If it wasn't for Fred and Laserbeak, he would...  
well, he probably would've died a lot earlier than he originally did.  
  
"We have to enter anyway to defeat them," Kurama said. "We might as well do it by their rules."  
  
"Besides, it's not as if we're not used to this," Yusuke added.  
  
"Some of us aren't," Hiei pointed out at the same time gesturing to Rad.  
  
Rad knew he had to swallow his fear, so he said, "Let's do this!"  
  
"We should probably figure out who should go first," Yusuke said.  
  
"I will," Hiei volunteered.  
  
"No, I'll go first," Kuwabara countered.  
  
"You could barely handle Byakko at Maze Castle," Hiei reminded.  
  
"I can definitely handle these guys."  
  
"If you two are going to argue like this, I might as well go first," Kurama spoke up.  
  
"No way," Hiei and Kuwabara said at the same time.  
  
"Uh... guys," Yusuke called. "I think I have a way to settle this."  
  
"What, let you go first?" Hiei cracked sarcastically.  
  
"No. We go through this in order of battle experience. Since Rad here has the least amount of battle  
experience, he'll go first."  
  
~Boy, if only he knew,~ Rad thought, then realized what Yusuke said. "Hey wait a minute!"  
  
"Don't worry about it, Rad," Yusuke encouraged the temporary member of his team. "If experience is to  
be our guide, the first guy is always the easiest. That way, you don't have to get apprehensive waiting  
for your fight."  
  
Rad nodded his head. Was he scared? Of course he was, he was about to go into real-life supernatural  
battle against creatures with unknown powers and have nothing to lose but he has everything to lose.  
But, he wasn't about to let his new friends down.  
  
"Okay, so Rad's going first. Kuwabara, you'll go second. Kurama, you go third. Hiei will go fourth and  
I'll take the last one."  
  
"Hey, I'll take the last one."  
  
"Okay, if you want to take the biggest, baddest, most evil of them all..."  
  
"Well gee, since you put it that way..." Kuwabara said sarcastically.  
  
Together, the group entered the fortress. As soon as they entered, the doors shut and they were encased  
in darkness.  
  
Rad noticed something odd. He put his hand on the ground. "Hey guys, this floor is metallic."  
  
"What would a metallic floor be doing in an ancient fortress like this?" Yusuke asked.  
  
"You're the detective, you tell us," Hiei cracked.  
  
"Greetings, mortals!" The lights clicked on and by the time the group could adjust to the brightness,  
their opponent was already standing before him.  
  
It was a cyborg-type creature. Whatever parts of its body that wasn't mechanical (which was very  
little) was white flesh. "I am Armex, one of the ring leaders of the Alliance of Darkling. I shall  
be your opponent for Level One."  
  
"Level One?" Everyone asked.  
  
"There are five levels in this fortress. You must get through one to proceed," Armex explained. "We  
are currently at Level One. But don't think that because this is the first level that it's going to be  
the easiest. You will not get through this. So, who will be my first victim?"  
  
Rad gulped then stepped forward. "I'll do it, I'll fight you."  
  
"Don't make me laugh," Armex said. "Your spirit energy is pitiful! Why, even the humans have more  
spirit energy than you."  
  
"Zip it," Rad came back. "I'll be fighting you and that's that."  
  
"Then prepare to die," Armex announced and charged Rad.  
  
"Been there, done that," Rad said. Armex started off with a direct punch which Rad dodged. Armex  
followed through with a round kick which connected with Rad's chest. Armex finished his three-hit  
combo off with an upper cut to Rad's chin.  
  
Rad felt all the wind in his body leave him due to the attacks. He fell onto his back.  
  
"Come on, Rad, you have to get up!" Yusuke called.  
  
"Don't forget, this was your idea," Kuwabara reminded his ally.  
  
~Maybe this was a bad idea,~ Rad thought. He was unable to speak due to having the wind knocked  
out of him. ~I'm no fighter, I don't have any special powers. And here I am going up against a  
super-powered cyborg with orders to kill. I... I don't think I can do this. I'm sorry, my   
friends... I'm sorry, Alexis.~  
  
Alexis...  
  
Her tears, he remembered her tears as he watched her sleep. He couldn't... he wanted to stop those  
tears. He had to win, for her if noone else.  
  
Rad's hand began to glow a blue, a blue glow that was familiar to the others.  
  
"Rad must have tapped into his spirit energy," Hiei said clearly not impressed.  
  
~I can't fail! I have to win. For the Autobots, for my friends, for... her.~  
  
"I have to win!" Rad half whispered, half shouted.   
  
Alexis was pulled from a mid-day snooze abruptly. She looked around. She was in her house. Highwire  
and Sureshock were paying very close attention to a motorcycle that was parked across the street,  
probably trying to ascertain if it's Sideways or not.  
  
Alexis put a hand on her chest. ~What's this I'm feeling?~ She asked. ~It's like my heart just  
started beeping again. What's going on?~ Alexis soon decided that she must've imagined it and went  
to make herself a sandwich.  
  
But she still couldn't shake that strange feeling, that feeling like she was coming alive again after  
years, even decades, of sleep.  
  
The blue energy that shot from his hand became a long arc-shaped about two feet. A small strand of   
energy connected one end to another. Rad stared at the shape of energy that formed in his hand.  
"It... looks like a bow," he commented.  
  
"Hey, that guy can form spirit weapons too!" Kuwabara realized.  
  
[All right, the Spirit Bow,] Rad heard Oniko's voice inside his head. He guessed that Oniko still had  
consciousness even though Rad was in control of his body. [I guess being possessed raised my spirit  
energy enough to keep it out for longer than a second.]  
  
Rad turned his attention to Armex. The cyborg seemed to be just as shocked upon seeing the Spirit Bow  
as Rad was.  
  
"This is illogical," Armex said. "The level of spirit energy I detected shouldn't be high enough to  
form weapons. How... how is it possible?"  
  
Rad stared at Armex. "I've dealt with machines before, Armex, I can tell that what just happened took  
you by surprise." He aimed the bow at Armex and drew back the string. An arrow-shaped shaft of energy  
appeared and targeted Armex.  
  
Rad let go.  
  
The arrow shot through the air so fast that at first, Kuwabara thought Yusuke used his Spirit Gun.  
Armex twisted and the arrow past by him but not without creating a little scar along his chest.  
  
"That arrow would've definitely destroyed me if I hadn't moved in time," Armex said to himself. "I  
can not allow this boy to get off another shot."  
  
Suddenly Armex's metallic arms detached from his body. They flew straight at Rad. Rad dodged one  
only to be hit by another. The arms arched around and attacked Rad again, this time each connecting with  
a portion of Rad's borrowed body. Rad cocked his Spirit Bow and fired. The arrow struck the arm and  
destroyed it. Rad dodged the attacks by the remaining arm.  
  
Looking at Armex, Rad noticed the cyborg's red optic glowing. ~That's it,~ Rad thought. ~That's how  
Armex's controlling his arms. He must target with that cybernetic eye of his the same way Hot Shot uses  
his targeting visor when he powerlink with Jolt. If I could destroy that lens, he'll probably lose  
control of his arm. It's a long shot, but at this point, what do I have to lose?~  
  
Rad formed another spirit arrow and took aim at Armex's eye.  
  
"I know you are trying to aim for my optic sensor," Armex said. "It will not work, the lens can withstand  
hits from even energy-based weapons."  
  
~Too late to back out now. Come on, gotta put everything I've got into this one shot!~ Rad actually saw  
the arrow flash for a second before firing.  
  
To everyone's surprise, the arrow not only penetrated Armex's optic, but came straight out the back of his  
head and struck the wall behind him. Armex fell down, unmoving.  
  
Rad gasped. "Oh my God! I didn't... I mean... I didn't know it would be that powerful."  
  
"It's all right, Rad," Yusuke said. "Think about it this way, he wasn't alive to begin with, so technically,  
you didn't kill him, you just shut him off. Anyway, that wasn't so bad for a beginner."  
  
"Yeah, you totally kicked his cybernetic keester," Kuwabara agreed.  
  
"I agree with Yusuke," Kurama said. "You did very well considering you don't have combat experience."  
  
"Thanks, guys," Rad said as the Spirit Bow faded away.  
  
"Yusuke, take a look at this," Hiei called from the hole in the wall that Rad's spirit arrow made. Behind  
the wall was a staircase winding its way up in a spiral direction. "I'm guessing this is our way up."  
  
"Then let's go," Yusuke said and lead his team up the stairs. 


	7. Kuwabaraism

Merry Christmas everybody! As my Christmas present to you, you are getting not one, not two, but  
three new chapters of this story in a row. I hope you enjoy them all.  
  
Memories of the Dead, Sould of the Living  
  
As Yusuke and his team climbed the steps of the Shen-Lo fortress, Yusuke turned to look at Rad, who  
was holding his stomach and wincing every minute or so. "You okay, Rad?"  
  
"A little winded, but I'll li... er... survive."  
  
"Well take a break, we'll handle the rest."  
  
"You won't hear any arguments from me."  
  
"Interesting how the newest member is the easiest to get along with," Hiei observed. "Unlike SOME  
humans."  
  
"Hey Urameshi, did you hear what that demon said about you."  
  
"I think he meant you, Kuwabara."  
  
"Hey, I was able to pull my weight dealing with the Four Saint Beasts, the Toguro Brothers AND the  
Dark Tournament. Yet you still treat me like the rookie."  
  
"Look, Kuwabara," Hiei said. "The only reason you're here is because you have spirit energy.  
You have no substantial connection to Spirit World. There's nothing you can do that any of us   
can't do already."  
  
"Well if that's true, then why don't you form a spirit sword like me."  
  
"Because I want to save my spirit energy for something useful."  
  
"Useful! Why I oughta..."  
  
Yusuke and Kurama ignored this bantering. It wasn't anything that they weren't used to.  
  
"How much longer are these stairs going to go on?" Yusuke asked.  
  
"This might be an endurance test," Kurama said. "Trying to break us down mentally."  
  
"Obviously, they don't know us very well," Yusuke commented.   
  
Finally, the group arrived at a new roon. This room had a circular stone arena over a pit of  
magma. A stone bridge was the only connection between that and the entrance.  
  
"Looks like this is the next level," Yusuke said.  
  
"Great, another fire pit," Kuwabara, who had given up arguing with Hiei when they entered the  
room, groaned.  
  
"It does seem to be a common theme with you," Hiei agreed.  
  
"Pass no further, humans!" Came a voice from above. A gold-colored humanoid dragon descended from  
the ceiling. "I am Kenryu, master of fire."  
  
"Master of fire?" Rad asked.  
  
"Each of us control a different elemental force of Spirit World. Armex, whom you defeated, was  
master of metal. And I am master of fire." As if to prove his point, columns of fire rose from the  
pit around them.   
  
"Boy, this feels like a case of de'ja vu," Yusuke said.  
  
"I agree," added Kurama. "Each opponent, a master of an elemental force. Just like the Four Saint  
Beasts."  
  
"Kuwabara had a hard enough time with Byakko, he might've bitten off more than he could chew." Hiei,  
of course.  
  
"And now, I challenge you!" He pointed straight at Rad who looked around to make  
sure that finger was aimed directly at him.  
  
"Who, me?"  
  
"You are the one who destroyed Armex. I will not let such an action go without retribution."  
  
"Big talk coming from a giant lizard."  
  
"Zip it, Urameshi," Kuwabara said stepping onto the stone bridge. "I'll be your opponent."  
  
"Don't be so eager to die, boy, I'll get to you just as soon as I finish off the one who killed  
Armex."  
  
"If you want him, you're going to have to go through me," Kuwabara said taking off his jacket and  
throwing it to Yusuke. He ignited his Spirit Sword and walked to the center of the circle. "And  
I mean right through me! You're not getting to him until there's a big gaping hole in my body!"  
  
"As you wish." Suddenly Kenryu launched a fireball from his mouth. Kuwabara threw himself to the  
ground and the others dodged out of the way as well. The fireball passed through the exit and struck  
a portion of the ceiling causing it to cave in and block the stairs from the first level.  
  
"Hey, I wasn't ready!" Kuwabara protested.  
  
"You idiot, this isn't the Dark Tournament," Yusuke told him. "There is no starting bell or referee."  
  
"Fine, in that case..." Kuwabara rushed at Kenryu and swung his sword. Kenryu flapped his wings and  
escaped the downswing of Kuwabara's spirit sword. Kuwabara turned and swung three more times but  
Kenryu dodged all of them. Backing up into the air, Kenryu launched a series of fireballs. Kuwabara  
destroyed them by slashing them with his sword.  
  
"A pathetic human is no match for the master of fire!" Kenryu declared. He flew down and slugged  
Kuwabara right in the cheek. The human flew back and almost fell off the ring.  
  
~Darn it,~ Kuwabara thought. ~I can't be beaten by him. Not only will the guys not make it to Level  
3, but Hiei would never let me hear the end of it. I have to prove that I can do this.~ Kuwabara re-  
ignited his spirit sword and charged Kenryu again.  
  
"Kuwabra seems to be relying on brute force to win," Hiei guessed. "He needs to start relying on  
strategy."  
  
"Good luck," Yusuke said cynically. "When it comes to strategy, Kuwabara NOT an expert."  
  
"Hey, I heard that!" Kuwabara called just before Kenryu nailed him with a left hook.  
  
The punch made Kuwabara skid back. He put his hand on the ground to stop himself. ~We're evenly  
matched when it comes to strength and firepower, but he can still fly. If only... that's it!~  
  
Kuwabara put both hands on his spirit sword, raised it up high and charged Kenryu again. Yusuke and  
the others sighed, knowing where this was going.  
  
"Here I come!" Kuwabara announced.  
  
"Go ahead, bring it on," Kenryu challenged.  
  
He never saw it coming.  
  
Kuwabara revealed a second spirit sword underneath his first one. He swung both swords and sliced  
Kenryu's wings off. The dragon fell to the ground.  
  
"Perfect."  
  
"Whoa, I didn't see that one coming."  
  
"What were you saying about Kuwabara relying purely on brute force?" Kurama asked Hiei with a sly  
grin.  
  
"He just got lucky."  
  
Kenryu's wings flopped around like a fish out of water. They each flopped to the end of the ring and  
fell into the lavabed.  
  
"My wings, my beautiful wings! You decapitated them!" Kenryu cried.  
  
"Now our playing field is even Steven," Kuwabara chuckled.  
  
"Looks like he's grounded," Yusuke joked.  
  
"Wow," Rad gasped, speaking up for the first time since the battle began. "He got rid of one of  
Kenryu's main abilities."  
  
"Just realizing that now?" Hiei said cynically.  
  
"Hey, leave him alone," Yusuke said not taking his eyes off Kuwabara and Kenryu. "He's still new at  
all of this."  
  
"Now that I have sliced off your wings, there's no way you can escape," Kuwabara said combining his two  
Spirit Swords into one again.  
  
"That's fine by me," Kenryu said as his nails grew to about eighteen inches and two large spikes shot  
out of his elbows. "I prefer attacking anyway." The two began their conflict anew, Spirit Sword  
clashing against demon blades.  
  
~This is getting us nowhere,~ Kuwabara thought. He quickly jumped out of the way as Kenryu launched  
a barrage of fireballs. ~I can match him blow for blow, but that would only end in a stalemate. How do  
I gain an advantage over him?~ Kuwabara ducked Kenryu's blades. "Hey, do you mind? I'm trying to think  
here."  
  
"Shut up and fight!" Kenryu snapped.  
  
"Man, that sounds like I would say," Kuwabara commented. Then suddenly it hit him. ~That's it! Fighting  
this guy is like fighting myself! So I need to beat him like how someone would beat me. Too bad I'm not  
as strong as Urameshi, but maybe... Yes, that just might work!~  
  
Too everyone's surprise, Kuwabara stood down and dissipated his Spirit Sword. He turned to face the others,  
"Come on, guys, let's go."  
  
"No, stand and fight me!" Kenryu ordered.  
  
"But why, Kuwabara?" Yusuke asked.  
  
"Shouldn't you finish him off?" Hiei added.  
  
"Why bother, he's too weak to be of any threat now."  
  
"TOO WEAK?" Kenryu shouted.  
  
"Yeah, he's not worth my time."  
  
"You must defeat me, otherwise you won't be able to go to the next level!"  
  
"I'm sure we can find another way. Hey Hiei, you could scale the wall of this fortress, can't you?"  
  
Hiei was beginning to catch on to what Kuwabara was doing. "With ease."  
  
"There, see, there's no need to fight this weakling. Let's go."  
  
"You will fight me or else!" Kenryu declared.  
  
"Forget it, you're nothing but a first rate fighter, a real insult to true demons like the Four  
Saint Beasts and the Toguro Brothers."  
  
"NO! I AM THE GREATEST DEMON OF ALL TIME!" Kenryu declared.  
  
"Oh please, you're nothing but a worthless has-been who can't even stop one single human." To emphasize  
his point, Kuwabara pointed his thumb down like a roman emperor about to condemn a gladiator to the death.  
  
With a scream of primal fury, Kenryu charged Kuwabara. Kuwabara took three steps back. Kenryu leaped at  
Kuwabara.  
  
Kuwabara slid to the side and Kenryu ended up going over the edge, literally and figuratively. Kuwabara  
looked over and saw him hanging on by one hand.  
  
"Without his wings to support his massive upper body, he can't pull himself up," Hiei explained to Rad.  
  
"This can't be happening! I am the greatest demon in spirit world! How could a measley human beat me!  
This isn't fair! THIS ISN'T FAIR!"  
  
Kuwabara activated his spirit sword and leaned down to Kenryu. "This is the part where you fall down,"  
he said smugley. He then sliced the rock that Kenryu was hanging on to.  
  
"NOOOOOOOOOOO!" Kenryu screamed as he plummeted into the lava.  
  
"Good riddence to bad rubbish," Kuwabara said.  
  
"Wow, Kuwabara, that was really clever," Yusuke said as the others came onto the ring. Yusuke handed  
him his shirt. "Getting him to fall like that."  
  
"He must've been really angry if he fell for such an obvious trap," Hiei said crossing his arms.  
  
"I guess I was just too smart for him," Kuwabara guessed putting on his shirt again.  
  
"Or too lucky," Hiei muttered.  
  
"Hey, you wanna say that again?" Kuwabara said steamed.  
  
"I guess some things will never change," Yusuke said.  
  
Suddenly the whole ring started to move. It began rising like an elevator.  
  
"I guess we're going on to the next level," Rad said as Hiei and Kuwabara continued their arguing over  
whether it was smarts or luck that beat Kenryu.  
  
"Alas, poor Kenryu," Satoshi said. "I always knew his temper would get him killed one day."  
  
"Satoshi, you will take the third level," Shadow instructed.  
  
"As you command, Lord Shadow."  
  
"Hey Satoshi, good luck," Reina called.  
  
"Reina, you shall take Level Four. If Satoshi falls, you will be all that stands between them and me."  
  
"Thank you for giving me this honor, Lord Shadow, I promise that I won't fail you."  
  
"You better not, Reina, otherwise you will die." Reina gulped and quietly disappeared to go to her  
level. 


	8. Yoko Learns a Lesson

Memories of the Dead, Souls of the Living  
  
The wooden platform that Yusuke and the others were on was still rising. Kuwabara was still  
crowing about his fight with Kenryu but the others had long since tuned him out. In the  
mean time, Yusuke contacted Botan on his new Spirit Communcicator.  
  
"Yusuke, how's it going?" Botan asked.  
  
"All right I guess. We already defeated two of the Alliance Lords."  
  
"Only two? Yusuke, that's not good enough."  
  
"What do you mean not good enough? We've only been at this for a few hours."  
  
"Spirit time runs at a slower pace than human time, Yusuke. You've been gone for about a  
day."  
  
"A day!" Yusuke smacked his forehead with his hand. "Darn it, I was suppose to be  
studying for that test over the weekend. Keiko's probably upset at me."  
  
"Again," Kuwabara, Hiei, Kurama, and Botan said at the same time. The joke was lost on Rad.  
  
"Oh yeah, that reminds me," Botan said. "Ogre and I have been doing a little research and we  
discovered a little information on the Alliance Lords."  
  
"What's that?"  
  
"Each of them is a master at an elemental force."  
  
"Yeah, we know that already. We already defeated the masters of fire and metal."  
  
"Well the other elements are earth, wind, and water."  
  
"That helps a little."  
  
"I better go, Koenma needs me to oversee the next wave."  
  
"All right, see 'ya." Yusuke closed his spirit communicator as the platform stopped. They  
were in another dark room, this one was covered in grass.  
  
"Okay, this is strange," Yusuke commented. "It's like an indoor garden."  
  
"Welcome, warriors." A single light shone down on an old man. He was dressed in a yellow shirt  
and orange vest. His sweat pants were white and so were his shoes. He had shoulder-length white  
hair and beady brown eyes. "Congratulations on defeating Kenryu. Of course, he was the weakest of  
us."  
  
"The weakest of us?" Everyone said at the same time.  
  
"I am Satoshi, the master of water. You must defeat me to proceed."  
  
"Kurama, you're up," Yusuke said. Kurama took out his rose.  
  
"Um... how's Kurama expect to win with a rose?" Rad asked.  
  
"Just watch," Hiei said.  
  
"Rose Whip!" Kurama called. The rose extended into its weapon form.  
  
"Whoa!"  
  
"Ah, a rose whip. You must be an animal spirit," Satoshi guessed. "And the name... Kurama... I  
expected as much. You are the legendary fox demon Yoko Kurama, are you not?"  
  
"Once I was known by that name, now I am called simply Kurama. Now, are you here to talk, or are  
you here to fight?"  
  
"Yes, let us begin," Satoshi said taking a fighting stance. Kurama swung his whip but Satoshi  
seemed to disappear.  
  
A sharp kick knocked the rose whip from his hand.  
  
"I move as silent and smooth as a river." He landed an elbow to Kurama's temple. "Yet I strike  
with the ferocity of a tidal wave!"  
  
Kurama scowled as he brushed Satoshi's punch off. "Rose Whip, to me!" The Rose Whip flew back  
into Kurama's hand."  
  
"I didn't know Kurama could Jedi his Rose Whip," Kuwabara commented.  
  
"As an animal spirit, Kurama controls his Rose Whip the same way he would control a part of his  
body."  
  
"Impressive," Yusuke said.  
  
"Rose Whip Lash!" Kurama made several lightning-quick slashes at Satoshi.  
  
"Torrential Tribute!" A cyclone of water rose around satoshi blocking the attacks. A column of  
water shot out and knocked Kurama back about twenty feet.  
  
"You will find that I'm a lot more palpable with my attacks than Armex." He cast a side glance at  
Yusuke and the others. "Nor am I easily tricked like Kenryu."  
  
"I see," Kurama said. "Rose Thorn!" Several green spikes were fired at Satoshi who quickly  
surrounded himself in a bubble.   
  
"Not bad, boy. Water Dragon!" A large dragon-shape water blast blew Kurama into a wall and   
didn't stop. "This is an intermediate attack I normally use against large-scale demons. I wish  
I didn't have to use it against you, but I guess it can not be helped." Satoshi kept up the attack  
for almost half a minute before subsiding. "Fortunately for you, that attack uses a lot of my spirit  
energy."  
  
Kurama used the wall to pull himself up to standing position. He was soaking wet and mad as hell.  
  
"I was hoping I wouldn't have to do this so soon," Kurama said. He cuped his right hand over his left  
and stuck his index and middle fingers up. He began chanting something but it was so low, that all  
anybody else could hear was murmuring.  
  
"Uh... Hiei, what's Kurama doing?" Yusuke asked.  
  
"Truthfully, Yusuke, I'm not sure."  
  
But Satoshi could see something. Over the many years he had been alive, he had been able to train his  
eyes to detect many forms of energy. And right now, what he was seeing taking place was almost  
impossible for someone like Kurama.  
  
Then again, he was the legendary Yoko Kurama.  
  
~How is this possible?~ Satoshi asked himself. ~It's like his very spirit energy is... changing  
somehow.~  
  
"SPIRIT REVELATION!" Kurama cried. A strange mist began encircling the room.  
  
"What's happening?" Rad asked.  
  
"I've only seen this once before," Hiei said. "At the Dark Tournament."  
  
"Dark Tournament?" Yusuke asked. "Wait a second, you're not saying..."  
  
"That's exactly what I'm saying, Yusuke. The Kurama we know is gone. Yoko... has returned."  
  
In place of Kurama was a strange albino humanoid. A humanoid that everyone except Rad knew and  
even feared. Yoko Kurama.  
  
"At last, I have emerged," Yoko said.  
  
"The legendary demon Yoko Kurama," Satoshi gasped. "It's an honor to meet you. It'll be an even  
bigger honor when I destroy you."  
  
Shadow watched this from the comfort of his throne room. He knew Yoko Kurama only too well. And  
this was trouble. "Satoshi, get out of there now!"  
  
But Satoshi couldn't hear him. There was no way of speaking to him. He broke into a run straight  
forward. Yoko held out his hand and over a dozen tree roots sprang from the ground and attacked  
Satoshi. Satoshi dodged them and fired needle-sharp water blasts at Yoko. Yoko moved his head to  
dodge him and landed in perfect alignment with Satoshi's left hook. Despite his age, the Alliance  
Lord was strong. Satoshi fired an immense water blast at Yoko's chest that propelled the old man  
half-way across the room.  
  
"Very ammusing," Yoko simply said. "Seed of Death." He shot a seed at Satoshi. Satoshi launched  
another column of water which engulfed the seed. Moving his hands like a conductor, the column of  
water did a u-turn at Satoshi and headed back at Yoko. When the water evaporated, the seed had  
already sprouted. Yoko sliced the tree. "You turned my own attack back on me," he said  
indifferently.  
  
"That is correct," Satoshi said relaxing his guard. "Tell me something, Yoko Kurama, why do you  
fight?"  
  
That prompted a reaction: confusion. "What do you mean why do I fight? You attacked me."  
  
"Yes, that is true, but do you have a reason to fight?" Yoko had no answer to that. "I see,  
well unless you know why you fight, discover your purpose of fighting, you are not truly fighting,  
you are simply throwing around attacks." Yoko noticed that Satoshi's wrist was bleeding. He  
deduced that since his death tree needs blood to sprout, Satoshi purposely cut himself and sent  
the blood through the water to sprout the tree prematurely. Clever. He must've been in a lot of  
battles to fine his attacks to such an extent.  
  
"Spirit Strike." Yoko transformed into a pure white fox. He was so white that it looked like he  
was radiating energy at an incredible rate.  
  
"What you are seeing is Kurama's true form," Hiei explained. "The form he was born in, before he  
injected himself into a human body."  
  
Satoshi turned into water and slipped under Yoko's pounce. He reformed himself behind Yoko and  
before Yoko could turn for another attack, a column of water burst from the ground underneath the  
demon fox. Yoko flew what was probably thirty feet in the air and landed with an unceremoniously  
thud on the ground.  
  
"Poor Yoko," Satoshi said. "I really wanted to find out why you fight. But, you apparently fight  
with no purpose. How sad. If it makes you feel any better, I hold no pride in fighting such a  
lost soul." He began shooting water at Yoko's head. "You know a human can die from intaking too  
much water. Causes an imballance in the brain. I have a feeling the same is true in a demon's  
case."  
  
Rad had had enough. He ran out onto the battlefield. "Yoko, get up. You can't let him beat you."  
  
"Admirable, lad, but I'm afraid it's too late," Satoshi said.  
  
"Satoshi says you need a reason to fight. Spirit World is on the verge of being destroyed. Think  
of all the other demons like you, giving their lives to protect Spirit World."  
  
"Other demons like him?" Kuwabara asked.  
  
"Shh, he's on a role," Yusuke hushed.  
  
"I used to know someone just like you. He never had a reason to fight, to believe in something.  
But he looked deep down himself and realized that he could find a reason to fight! The reason was  
right in front of him the whole time. And after he discovered that purpose, he was one of the most  
powerful warriors to ever walk the Earth! You have a reason to fight, Yoko, fight for all of Spirit  
World."  
  
Satoshi blasted Rad back without letting up the pressure on Yoko. "A good try, lad, I would very  
much enjoy meeting this human who has discovered himself." Rad wanted to tell him that it wasn't a  
human but he was recovering from Satoshi's water blast. "But for now, it is time to put an end to  
the legendary spirit fox Yoko Kurama."  
  
~The boy is right. I must fight for Spirit World. I do have a reason to fight, to fight with all  
my heart. And I must fight with all my heart.~  
  
[We must fight with all our heart,] Yoko could hear a voice in his head. It was the voice of his  
human counterpart, Kurama. [If you are willing to fight, I am willing to join you. Together, we can  
destroy Satoshi.]  
  
~Agreed,~ Yoko thought.  
  
On the outside, curved wooden panels rose from the ground and enclosed Yoko like a caccoon.  
  
"What's happening?" Satoshi asked. Even Hiei was surprised by this development. Inside the wooden  
caccoon, a bright red light was flashing in a rhythmic pattern, almost like a heartbeat.  
  
"What is this power?" Satoshi asked. He fired a blast of water at it but it seemed to absorb it.  
The glow began to increase in tempo.  
  
"I get it," Yusuke said. "Plants need water to grow. Satoshi's only speeding up the development  
process of Yoko's pod!" Satoshi stopped but it seemed to be too late.  
  
The caccoon burst apart with incredible energy and Yoko emerged. He seemed rejuvinated somehow.  
  
"No, this can't be, how is this happening?" Satoshi was asking.  
  
"I'm back," Yoko said sounding more like Kurama. "And this time, I have a reason to fight."  
Satoshi was still bewildered at Yoko being healed and recharged so he didn't notice the roots  
until it was too late. They wrapped around him and began squeezing the life out of him.  
  
Even through all this, Satoshi smiled. "My congratulations, Yoko, you have finally found your  
reason for fighting. I hope you never forget it. It's been... an honor... to fight you."  
Then the vines snapped his neck and Satoshi died.  
  
"That was incredible power, Yoko Kurama," Hiei commented. "You might be the most powerful spirit  
animal in Spirit World."   
  
Yoko didn't reply to that. Instead, he turned to Rad, "Thank you. I have always thought humans  
savage and weak. Now I see that is not the case here."  
  
"You're welcome," Rad replied.  
  
"Hey, look," Kuwabara called out. A hole on the ceiling appeared. "That must be the exit."  
  
"Great, how do we get up there?" Yusuke asked.  
  
"I can carry us," Yoko Kurama said. A tree began to rise from the ground. Hiei leaped on and  
perched at the top. Yusuke and Rad sat on a branch. A couple of branches elevated Yoko Kurama  
(he was still too drained to stand up). Kuwabara was suspended by two branches underneath his  
arms. His legs were dangling over in a comical fashion.  
  
"Level Four, here we come!" Yusuke called out.  
  
"Damn Satoshi," Shadow cursed. "If only he just destroyed him instead of dispensing advice."  
  
"Excuse me, Lord Shadow."  
  
"What is it, Reina?"  
  
"Sir, I would like to battle them in another dimension. That way, they won't have to risk  
destroying any more of the fortress."  
  
"Very well. But you better destroy them or don't come back at all."  
  
Reina gulped. She knew that Shadow was set on his death threat. She needed to destroy them.  
She knew she couldn't handle all of them. She would have to defeat them one at a time. She  
decided to start with Hiei.  
  
Closing her eyes, she said, "Great spirits of the wind, please look upon me with favor. Give  
me the strength needed to defeat them, or else... I will die." 


	9. The Ones he Left Behind

A/N: After Christmas, I'm moving this story to the Yu-Yu Hakusho category. Because  
from after this chapter, it's going to be mostly Yu-Yu related. I also want to catch  
a wider audience, including more Yu-Yu fans. I will move it back to the Transformers  
category for the end. But this episode is going to be mostly devoted to Transformers.  
You guys will also find out... well, I'll let you guys find out for yourself.  
  
Memories of the Dead, Souls of the Living  
  
Scavenger wiped his hands on a cloth as he stood back to look at his handiwork. He's  
been working for the past three weeks on making a passage route they can use to get  
the ship (which Optimus titled the Autobot Axalon). The main gate will take them  
underneath the lake.  
  
"How's that welding coming along, Red Alert?" Scavenger asked Red Alert, who was  
just finishing welding the door hinges into proper allignment.  
  
"Almost done," Red Alert reported. He spent one more minute on it before loweirng  
himself vie his cable. "There, the gate is finished."  
  
Optimus came up to them. The Autobot leader looked worn and tired. He pounded on the  
door to tested its durability. He turned to Scavenger and Red Alert. "Good job, men.  
Just how do we protect the ship from the sudden water pressure though?" Scavenger and  
Red Alert shared a look. That was one thing they hadn't counted on.  
  
Red Alert answered, "If we build filters in the walls, we can gradually fill the chamber  
up which could release the pressure."  
  
"Get on it, I don't want anything happen to this ship until we get to Cybertron."  
Scavenger and Red Alert saluted (although since Red Alert was using his gun arm, it looked  
like he was trying to kill himself). Optimus saluted back and walked out.  
  
AS he was walking through the hallway, Sideswipe came up to him. "Excuse me, Optimus, sir."  
  
"Yes, Sideswipe, what is it?"  
  
"I've been trying to establish a communication link with Cybertron and so far, I've been  
able to get a few messages. They're a little weak, but it sounds like the Autobot forces  
are being overrun by Decepticons. Also, our outpost at Vega Thalon has been destroyed, no  
word yet on the cause or casualties."  
  
"Understood. Keep monitoring the communication channels and inform me of any changes good or  
bad."  
  
"Yes, sir."  
  
Optimus came to the control room where Jet Fire, Blurr, and Smokescreen were on watch. Optimus  
went up to Smokescreen. "Why don't you take a rest, Smokescreen, I'll fill in for you."  
  
Smokescreen turned towards his leader with a surprised look. "But Optimus, you already took  
three shifts in a row. Surely, your power cells must be running low."  
  
"I still have over 25% power left plus my reserves are fully charged. I'll be fine."  
  
"Nevertheless, Optimus, it's not healthy for you to work so much. Go take a break, we can handle  
things from here," Jet Fire assured his leader.  
  
"I'm fine, Jet Fire."  
  
Jet Fire sighed. "I hate to do this, Optimus, but I'm exercising clause 84-5."  
  
"What's Clause 84-5?" Sideswipe, who had caught the tail end of Jet Fire's conversation as he  
came in, asked Blurr.  
  
"A Second-In-Command can remove a leader from active duty if he feels that the leader is unable to  
continue duty," Blurr explained. "As far as I know, it's never been exercised like this until  
now."  
  
"Blurr, please escort Optimus Prime to his quarters," Jet Fire requested.  
  
"That won't be necessary," Optimus said. He could tell when Jet Fire meant business and he was  
ready to start a mutiny just to make sure Optimus could get some rest. "I'll go by myself."  
  
True to his word, Optimus went into his quarters. Sparkplug was there, talking with some of the  
other Minicons. The Minicons, seeing that Optimus needed his privacy, left but Sparkplug stayed.  
  
"What, Sparkplug," Optimus began. "What good am I as a leader if I can't even protect one human?"  
  
Sparkplug beeped a protest, saying that Optimus was a great leader and pointed out the many  
campaigns he lead.  
  
"A leader is more than just someone who gives orders. He must take care of his troops. Rad was  
one of my troops, Sparkplug! He may have been a human, but he was still one of the Autobots.  
And I failed him."  
  
Sparkplug was relentless in trying to convince his leader that Rad's death was Megatron's fault,  
not his own. Optimus reached into his chest and took out a strange object. It was a blue crystal  
in a yellow orbital casing and connected by two handles. It was his matrix.  
  
"I have lost troops before," Optimus lamented. "I've even lost good friends to Decepticon fire.  
So why is Rad's death affecting me more? Is it because the two of us had gotten so close, that it  
was him who picked up that Minicon panel and first brought the Autobots to Earth. It was because  
of Rad that we all became friends? It was him who convinced the Minicons to unite to form the  
Requiem Blaster that first time."  
  
Optimus threw the matrix against the wall. The casing was extremely strong so all it did was bounce  
off and land on the floor. Sparkplug picked it up and held it up for him to take. But Optimus  
laid on his recharging bed and drifted into a dreamless sleep. Robot's don't dream, they have  
flashbacks, but no dreams. If they did dream, Optimus' sleep would've been plagued with nightmares  
of seeing Megatron kill Rad.  
  
Out in the control room, Jet Fire asked, "Hey, has anyone seen Hot Shot?"  
  
"He finished his work early so he decided to go for a drive," informed Sideswipe.  
  
"Hot Shot, finishing work early? I think Megatron must've replaced Hot Shot with a clone in the last  
battle." Smokescreen was commended for trying to cheer all of them up, but the circumstances were  
just too strong.  
  
Hot Shot drove on canyon road. This was near where they first discovered Jolt and Longarm. Their  
first battle with the kids along. Hot Shot didn't know why he chose this particular area. Perhaps  
it was just instinct. Hot Shot didn't know and didn't care. Once again, he had a chance to save a  
friend, and once again, he failed. Hot Shot reflected on the time he tried to save Wheeljack but  
couldn't. It was because of his reluctance that Wheeljack was now a Decepticon. And it was because  
of his reluctance that he was unable to save Rad.  
  
Jolt, who was attached to Hot Shot's trunk, assured Hot Shot that it wasn't his fault, he wasn't even  
at the battle scene when it happened. Unlike Optimus, Hot Shot took a little comfort in knowing that  
he won't have the same problems he did with Wheeljack.  
  
Hot Shot transformed and stared out into the horizon. He allowed his nose to intake the Earth's oxygen.  
If the Decepticons took over Cybertron, it wouldn't be long before they set their sights on Earth. And  
with the Autobots stretched as far as they are, Hot Shot didn'tbelieve they could survive a full frontal  
assault.  
  
"Aww, look at the little Autobot, all alone without a friend in the world," came a mocking tone. Thrust  
stood on a higher cliff edge than Hot Shot.  
  
"Leave me alone, Thrust, I'm in no mood to deal with you right now."  
  
"What's wrong, Autobot? You look like you just lost your best friend... oh wait, you DID!" Thrust broke  
into a mocking laughter.  
  
It took all of Hot Shot's self control to not go up there and belt him one.  
  
But Thrust continued his mocking. "Now see what happens when you get too emotionally attached to these  
lesser lifeforms, you start acting like them, acting all wheepy and depressed. At least your comrade  
Smokescreen was able to recover."  
  
Starscream came down to Earth to try and find Thrust. He found him, but he didn't like what he was  
seeing.  
  
"...otions have clouded your judgement, Autobot," Starscream heard as he walked up to them. "In this  
universe, the strong survive and the weak perish. And that human pet of yours was probably weaker than  
anyone I have ever met."  
  
"Thrust," Starscream called out. Both Thrust and Hot Shot turned and saw him.  
  
~Great,~ Hot Shot thought. ~Here comes Starscream to join in on the 'fun.'~  
  
"You're needed back at base," Starscream said seriously.  
  
"Hey Starscream, why don't you join in on the fun. Teasing Autobots is so enjoyable, it should be a new  
Decepticon pasttime."  
  
"Thrust, return to base."  
  
"Come on, Starscream, look at him, whining over his lost pet human like a rust slug. He's so pathetic, he  
doesn't even deserve to call himself a Cybertronian."  
  
Starscream got up close in Thrust's face and scowled at him. In a low menacing voice, the Decepticon seeker  
said, "Just because we're allies doesn't mean I like you."  
  
Thrust could tell that Starscream meant it so he cleared his throat and said, "Well, I think I made my point  
across, time to get back to work." And he took off back to Decepticon base.  
  
Starscream and Hot Shot stared each other down. Then Starscream said, "I'm sorry for your lost, Hot Shot."  
And then he turned and walked away.  
  
Did Hot Shot hear him correctly? Did Starscream just say he was sorry for his lost, sorry that Rad is gone?  
  
Hot Shot came to one conclusion: Starscream is one robot he would never be able to figure out.  
  
Sideways watched this drama unfold from afar. ~Hmmm, this might make my job a lot easier.~  
  
Cyclonus was staring oddly at the Requiem Blaster when Thrust came into the throne room.  
  
"Cyclonus, get away from that," Thrust snapped.  
  
Cyclonus took one step back from the Requiem Blaster. "Sorry, Thrust, I was just cleaning some water from  
it."  
  
"What are you talking about, there are no sources of water on the moon," Thrust schided.  
  
"I'm serious, Thrust, look." Cyclonus pointed to a small (by Transformer standards) puddle of water that  
had accumulated just below the gun's handle.  
  
"Fine, I'll clean it up," Thrust said quickly. "You go help Tidal Wave and Demolisher insert the hyper  
drive."  
  
"Fine, fine." But as Cyclonus left, he cast one more look at the Requiem Blaster. It was strange, it was  
almost like the Requiem Blaster was... crying.  
  
Carlos came over to Alexis' house to check to see how she was doing. The two of them hadn't talked since  
Rad's demise. He knocked on the door and to his surprise, Highwire let him in.  
  
"Highwire, what are you doing out in the open?" Carlos asked.  
  
Highwire tilted his head and beeped an answer. Carlos didn't understand what he was saying, but he got the  
idea. Alexis' parents must be gone so Alexis allowed Highwire and Sureshock to run free.  
  
"Hey, Highwire, where's Alexis?" The Minicon lead him up to Alexis' room. For some reason, she was sitting  
on her bed staring at the floor. Carlos sat next to her and began mimicing her. This went on for about a  
minute before Carlos asked, "Just what are we looking at anyway?"  
  
Alexis screamed and fell off her bed. "Carlos, you scared me!"  
  
"My fifth grade math teacher says the same thing."  
  
"Well... what are you doing here anyway?" She asked as she stood up and dusted herself off.  
  
"I came to see how you were doing."  
  
"Oh, me? I'm fine, never been better."  
  
"Come on, Alexis, Scavenger made a better actor than you."  
  
"Seriously, Carlos, I'm fine, I'm... over him... it. At least I don't have to worry about him ooging that  
hologram girl."  
  
"Uh... excuse me, but I was the one oogling the hologram girl."  
  
"Oh come on, I... I know you boys are all the same, gazing at anything with pretty... legs." To Carlos, that  
sounded like the verbal equivalent of ripping a band aid off of a still healing bruise.  
  
"Alexis, sit down." Carlos patted the spot on the bed where Alexis sat before being startled off.  
  
"Wh... why should I?"  
  
"Alexis, sit down before I make Highwire and Sureshock sit you down." Alexis slowly sat on the bed next to  
Carlos. "Rad isn't here, so I guess I should be the one to tell you."  
  
"Tell me what?"  
  
Carlos took a deep breath and slowly let it out. "Rad used to have a sister."  
  
That caught Alexis by surprise. "A sister?"  
  
Carlos nodded. "Her name was Marcy. Were she alive today, she would've been around your age?"  
  
"What do you mean 'were she alive today?'"  
  
"Marcy died almost ten years ago. She was the victim of a hit and run. Rad witnessed it."  
  
"That's why Rad's attitude changed the moment 'crash' was mentioned!" Alexis realized. "And I bet she looked  
like that hologram girl too!" Again, Carlos nodded. Alexis then asked, "Were they... close?"  
  
"The three of us used to play together all the time. I thought she was a tag-a-long but Rad seemed to enjoy  
having her around."  
  
Alexis lowered her head. "And all this time, I thought he was just like any other boy..." Her voice cracked.  
"But in fact, he was the most caring individual I have ever met. I guess..." A sob escaped her. "That's why  
I... I... love him."  
  
Carlos gave her a friendly smile. He knew that the two had grown real close since they first met the Autobots.  
Heck, they've all grown closer since they met the Autobots. But he observed those two get especially close.  
That revelation didn't surprise him in the least.  
  
Carlos then noticed something. "Alexis, your face..." Alexis looked at herself in a mirror. Her cheeks were  
stained with tears. She looked at Carlos and was actually smiling. "I don't believe it... I'm crying! I was  
afraid that I had no more tears to shed."  
  
Carlos embraced her the best he could. Right now, she needed what all humans need when they get sad, a shoulder  
to cry on. And to tell the truth... so did he. 


	10. Hiei's Fight in Another Dimension

Memories of the Dead, Souls of the Living  
  
Yusuke and the others rode up Yoko's tree to the next level. Suddenly the tree  
stopped.  
  
"Hey Yoko, are you okay?" Rad asked noticing Yoko's fatigue.  
  
"Unfortunately, this is as far as I can take you," Yoko said. He began to glow and  
transformed back into Kurama.  
  
"It's okay, Kurama," Hiei said. "Since I'm the next one up, I'll go on ahead. You  
four catch up when..." Then Hiei disappeared.  
  
"Where'd he go?" Kuwabara asked.  
  
Hiei looked around at his surroundings, but there wasn't much to look at. There was a  
tile floor but nothing else. All around him was darkness. Light shown from some unknown  
source.  
  
"Where am I?" Hiei asked nobody in particular.  
  
"Why you're in another dimension, of course," said a high-pitch voice. A little girl  
appeared before him. She had snow-white hair and sea-green eyes. She was dressed in what  
looked like a white jumpsuit.  
  
"Who are you?"  
  
"I am Reina, one of the Alliance Lords, master of the wind element."  
  
Hiei smirked. "Good, this saves me the trouble of looking for you."  
  
"Tell me something, Hiei, why do you choose to ally yourself with these humans."  
  
Again with the smirk. "They bring me amusement."  
  
"You know, if you join us, you can be the most powerful demon in Spirit World."  
  
"Tempting," Hiei replied. He then used his incredible speed to blitz the girl. "But I don't  
take bribes from children!"  
  
Hiei was suddenly blown back by a strong gust of wind. He actually fell on his butt.  
  
"Okay, I admit, that took me by surprise," Hiei admitted. He drew his sword and ran to attack  
Reina from the side. "But don't think it'll happen again!" But that's just what did happen,  
again Hiei was thrown to the ground by a powerful gust of wind.  
  
"Give it up, Hiei," Reina said. "There's no way you can surprise me."  
  
Hiei noticed that her eyes were closed, so how did she see him coming? Hiei tried attacking her  
again, this time from behind, but it seems like she set up an impenetrable shield.  
  
"How does she know where I'm coming from?"  
  
"Confused, well, let me give you a hint. A wind mistress does more than control the wind."  
  
Hiei stood his ground, trying to find a way around Reina's defenses. Suddenly Hiei felt several  
small but sharp bursts of wind blow by him. They ripped a hole in his sleeve and even cut his  
cheek.  
  
"Enough is enough," Hiei said throwing down his sword and taking out his headband. His third   
eye opened and began to glow.  
  
"Dragon of the Darkness Flame!"  
  
Nothing happened.  
  
"I think hanging around the humans has made you soft, Hiei," Reina commented. "You need to draw  
energy from Spirit World to do your Dragon of the Darkness Flame. And this dimension is so out of  
the way that it's beyond even the Spirit World's control. In short, you can't use your Dragon of the  
Darkness Flame here." To her surprise, Hiei laughed. "Wh... what's so funny?" She asked nervously.  
  
"You think you're so smart, but you know nothing, you fool," Hiei said as his body began glowing.  
"For if there's one thing I've learned from fighting with Yusuke Urameshi, it's that there's more than  
one way to draw energy. I'm going to use my own spirit energy to empower the Dragon."  
  
"Are you insane? If you use your own spirit energy, you will cease to exist! You won't even be a  
ghost!"  
  
"If I can't defeat a pesky little twerp like you, then I don't even deserve to exist." Hiei said.  
He rested his left hand on his right arm. The left hand began glowing a blood red color. "While it  
may not be as strong as my Dragon of the Darkness Flame, it should be more than enough to finish you  
off."  
  
Reina was more scared than she has ever been. She never felt such a tremendous... and horrible...  
power before. It did more than scare her, it's like it froze her in place.  
  
"SPIRIT OF THE CRIMSON DRAGON!" Hiei shouted. A red stream of energy emitted from his hand.  
The energy was shaped like a dragon's head. The blast scored a direct hit and sent Reina flying  
before she landed with an almost sickening thud. "Let that be a lesson to you," Hiei said. "That  
you never mess with the Ji-gan... huh?" Reina was struggling to get up.  
  
"You're... insane," she muttered.  
  
"Well you're a tough kid, I'll give you that," Hiei said. "But in a battle, there must always be a  
winner and a loser. Spirit of the Crimson Dragon!" Just as Reina got up, she was thrown to the ground  
again by Hiei's attack. But again she struggled to get up.  
  
"I can't lose," she said. "If I don't kill you, Lord Shadow will kill me!"  
  
"Cry me a river," Hiei said sarcastically. He picked up his sword again and charged but Reina hit him  
with a wind burst.  
  
Hiei saw that his shirt was getting torn to shreds so he took it off and threw it to the side. Suddenly  
Reina fired a wind burst at his shirt and ended up blowing it about 50 yards away.  
  
~Why did she do that?~ Hiei thought to himself. Then decided to try an experiment. He threw his sword  
in one direction while he started running in the other direction. Just as Hiei predicted, Reina launched  
a wind blast in the direction of his sword then in his own direction. Hiei let the blast take him down.  
  
"I think I'm beginning to understand now." Hiei got up. "You can't see here, but you can sense where a  
person is by feeling the dislocation of the air. That's what you meant when you said that a wind mistress  
can do more than control the wind, they can use it as their eyes."  
  
"So you figured out my little secret," Reina said. "It won't do you any good."  
  
"You don't know how many of my enemies have said that right before I murdered them." Reina fired several  
wind blasts which Hiei dodged. Reina surrounded herself in a tornado which expanded until it sent Hiei  
flying out of control.  
  
"That does it," Hiei grumbled as he got up. "Now, you have gone and piss me off!" Hiei's body turned an  
ugly green. More eyes began appearing on his body.  
  
Reina felt her body freeze up again. Shadow had warned her that Hiei was ruthless, but she never realized  
how ruthless. Hiei was about to unleash his demon wraith upon her.  
  
Faster than you could blink, Hiei was up close with her and slugged her right in the stomach. He followed  
through with a spinning hook kick to her head. Reina expected to feel the ground but instead felt Hiei's  
foot slam into her back. She flew into the air and Hiei met her and pounded his fist into her chest. She  
fell to the ground in a heap.  
  
But she still didn't give up. Using a wind tunnel to pick her up. Reina set up a tornado again and expanded  
it so that no matter where Hiei ran, there was no way he would escape it. Reina felt her energy run out on  
her so she dispersed the tornado.  
  
But Hiei was still alive.  
  
Still in his demon form, Hiei struggled to stand up. He never expected that such a little child would have  
such tremendous power. So much so that he needed to turn into his demon form just to hold a candle against  
her. Hiei utilized his inhuman speed and agility and attacked her again, showing her no mercy. Reina took  
all of his attacks. When he was done, she was laying on the ground, beaten almost to a pulp.  
  
"Are you dead yet or am I really going to have to get serious?" Hiei asked. He then heard Reina muttering  
something. He sighed. It looked like he would have to finish the job. But as he stepped forward, he realized  
that she wasn't muttering anything.  
  
She was crying.  
  
"You start to lose one battle and you start crying? Oh grow up."  
  
"You... don't understand," she said. "YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!" Hiei was lifted up by a violent wind storm.  
"You don't realize how easy you have it. Here, it's kill or be killed. And I tend to do the killing. I must,  
my life is at stake!"  
  
"Go cry to someone who cares."  
  
"Shut up!" Reina gathered wind into a sphere and launched it. Hiei was blown back a good 150 yards. He  
quickly used his speed to get back there.  
  
"Nobody cares, that's the problem!" Reina said. "That's why I must win! That's why I must destroy you!"  
  
~She's lonely,~ Hiei realized. ~She knows she must defeat me or the others will leave her.~ Hiei found  
himself actually feeling sorry for her. All she wanted was a friend and she ended up hanging with the  
wrong crowd. Then again, she could be trying to trick him.  
  
"The Ji-gan eye shall tell me the truth." His Ji-gan eye had many powers, some even he doesn't know about,  
one of the powers was revealing the true spirit of a demon, determining whether it is benevolent or malicious.  
That's how he came to choose Kurama and Gouki as his allies in stealing the three artifacts from King Enma's  
vault.  
  
The Ji-gan eye showed a sad spirit, one that desired something it couldn't have, something it could only envy.  
  
She was telling the truth.  
  
Hiei transformed back into his human state and gathered his spirit energy again. "Spirit of the Crimson  
Dragon!" This time, the blast threw her to the ground with a less than gracious thud. He walked up to her and  
picked her up. "I know you're alive, girl."  
  
Slowly, Reina opened her eyes. "What are you waiting for? Finish me, you know you want to."  
  
"I'll finish you only when I've decided you've outlived your usefulness."  
  
"Outlive my usefulness?"  
  
"We need to get to Level Five. You can get us there."  
  
Reina lowered her eyes. "Very well." Hiei collected his shirt, headband, and sword and Reina teleported  
the two of them back to the others."  
  
It's been a while since Hiei disappeared. Yusuke had checked in with Botan and was now exchanging  
adventure stories with Rad. Kurama was still recuperating.  
  
Everybody was shocked upon seeing Hiei materialized with a girl over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.  
  
"Hey, just where have you been?" Kuwabara asked. "We need to get to the fourth level and here you are  
popping out to pick up chicks."  
  
"I've found an alternate way up," Hiei said ignoring Kuwabara. "This girl can send us up there with her  
wind powers."  
  
"Wind powers?" Yusuke stared at Reina. "Hey, you wouldn't happen to be one of the Alliance Lords by any  
chance, would you?"  
  
Reina nodded. "Yes, my name is Reina," she said meakly.  
  
"Tell me something, Hiei, how did you convince her to aid us?" Kurama asked.  
  
"He probably beat her up," Kuwabara muttered.  
  
"Not that it's any of your business, human, but that IS what happened," Hiei scoffed.  
  
"You coward!" Kuwabara grabbed the front of his shirt. "Do you find pleasure in beating up little girls?"  
  
"This 'girl' is part of the enemy," Hiei commented. "Plus she has enough power to literally send you flying  
all the way back to Koenma's palace." Hiei didn't tell him that he found no pleasure in beating her up.  
  
"Shouldn't we get going?" Rad asked.  
  
"Right," Hiei agreed. "Reina, take us up to Level Five."  
  
"Yes, sir."  
  
"Koenma, sir, good news," Botan called. "Yusuke and his band had already defeated four out of the five  
Alliance Lords."  
  
"I'm glad," Koenma said. "Our forces are getting clobbered. The Alliance of Darkling has gathered their  
soldiers well."  
  
"Any word yet on the reinforcements?"  
  
"My father said he's gathering as many troops as he can." Koenma dropped his head on his desk. "I'm  
afraid he won't get here in time."  
  
"Reina, you were my last defense, and not only have you failed me," Shadow said as he got off his throne.  
"But you chose to ally yourselves with these humans and human-lovers." He placed on some metal gauntlets.  
"For that, I shall show you no mercy!"  
  
A/N: I apologize to all die-hard Yu-Yu Hakusho fans if I screw up an attack or a power. It's been a  
while since I've seen the series. 


End file.
